


Reality Mansion

by Rachel_Lu



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reality Show, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Falling In Love, It'll make sense, Mystery, Reality TV, Sharing a Bed, fake couples therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-02-07
Packaged: 2019-02-26 14:01:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 33,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13237230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Lu/pseuds/Rachel_Lu
Summary: The Doctor finds a suspicious flyer on the TARDIS for a reality show following struggling couples. Though Rose is unconvinced, the Doctor finds it suspicious, and the two of them head to the set masquerading as a struggling couple, and while they make it on the show, they start to get in way over their heads.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea when my mum was watching Marriage Boot Camp. This was born, and I am very excited for it!!! I hope you all enjoy this first chapter :)

 

Rose didn’t know what she was expecting when the Doctor walked into her room holding up a flyer, but she was sure she already hated it, based on the look in his eyes.  She looked up from her freshly painted toenails and grimaced.

“What are you up to?” She asked him as he sat on the end of her bed.

“Look at this,” he replied, placing the flyer down in front of her.

She picked it up and read aloud, “Is your relationship in trouble?  Bring your significant other to audition for the best reality show in the universe.  Grand prize is four unlimited credit sticks!’” She peered up at him. “Doctor.  Sorry, but what?”

He furrowed his brows at her. “That doesn’t sound suspicious to you at all?”  
She shook her head.  “No, that sounds like any sort of stupid reality shows we have on Earth.  besides , Doctor, we’re- we’re not, you and me-” she blushed and looked down at her feet again, picking up the tiny brush and painting her pinky toenail.

The Doctor, as oblivious as he ever was, she thought with frustration, said simply, “Not what?”  
“Doctor, that’s for couples.”

“I know.  We’d be going undercover. Isn’t that fun?”

She thought about it. Going on TV in some foreign planet, pretending to be  _ dating  _ the Doctor, which would probably include touching, and then trying to  _ win?   _ How did you win at a therapy reality show anyway?  She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. 

“Go on, ask me,” he said softly, jostling her shoulder.

She raised her eyes to his again. “Alright, Doctor, what about this looks so suspicious to you?”

He sat next to her fully on the bed, ignoring her mumblings about having his shoes on her bed.  He shoved the flyer in front of her again.  “Look at the people on there.  They’re all human.  Or humanoid, at least.”

“So?”

“ _ So,  _ this planet, Kryptonon, doesn’t have any humanoid beings on it.  Well, they do, sort of, but they’re blue and have antennas.  So they wouldn’t- or shouldn’t- be using people on their advertising that look like purebred humans.”

“Or purebred Time Lords.”

He winked at her. “Now you’re getting it.”

“Wait, you said Krypton? Like Superman?”

He made a face.  “No.  Kryptonon is completely different.  I think it would be a good experience, Rose.”

“What, to see if something shady is going on?”

“Yeah,” he nodded excitedly, beaming at her with a delightfully crooked smile.  “I think there might be something more sinister, and you like the domestic approach, don’t you?”

She finished off her nails and set the bottle to the side.  “So you wanna do it cause you think I’ll like it?”

He nodded. “Kind of.”

“And you _know_ something’s going on?”  
The Doctor turned serious. “I have a very strong feeling.  This flyer was sent to the TARDIS, I printed it out.  I’ve never seen anything like it before.  I’ve seen reality shows and the like, sure, but-” he shook his head, “This is too alluring to some people, people who are really struggling. So we should go.”

She wanted to ask him so many things.  Did this mean anything to him at all?  Did she mean anything to him?  She chewed her bottom lip and took the flyer from him, looking it over.  The picture did seem wildly generic, like it was from the front of a text book or something.  She blew out her cheeks and tossed the flyer to him, flopping dramatically back on her bed. “Fine!” She said.

He reached down and squeezed her hand. “Perfect!  Pack a bag, we’ll see if we can get on that show!”  
“Wait a minute, Doctor.  First of all, we have to pretend we’re in a relationship, and second of all, we have to pretend we’re having _problems.”_

“What kind of problems?” He asked.

“Dunno, Doctor, like, dating people problems.  Like you drink too much or I sleep to much, or-”

“Or you eat all the biscuits that are clearly on my side of the cupboard?”

She scowled at him. “Excuse me, but there is literally  _ no  _ logic to that.  Who picks sides on a cupboard?”

“Well, there’s our first problem right there, Rose Tyler.”

She snorted. “No one would ever believe that.”

“I’m sure you could come up with something better,” he said, “I am dreadfully annoying, after all.”

She hummed and wiggled her toes a little, looking at the paint from her pillows.  He squeezed her hand hard.

“This is the part where you tell me I’m not annoying, “ he whispered to her, like it was a big secret.

“Everyone’s annoying sometimes,” Rose laughed, “I’m sure I’m annoying to you all the time.”

“No,” he said firmly.  “I like spending time with you.”

She smiled fondly at him. “You lump,” she said, “Go on, then, you’ve got to pack a bag too.”

“I’ll wear my suit,” he said in reply.

She made a face at him. “You will not.  Regular people, and aliens, use more than one change of clothes.”

He watched her for a few moments, as though he didn’t know what he wanted to say to that. “Um.  I don’t- I-”

“Yes you do own other clothes,” Rose said, rolling her eyes. “And even if you didn’t, the TARDIS would happily whip some up for you and you know it.  You’ve just got to get rid of your old armor for what, a few weeks?”

He winced. “Is that how long these shows last?”

She laughed openly and patted his cheek. “Poor Doctor.  Are you sure you wanna do this, then?”

He seemed like he wasn’t sure all of a sudden, but then he shook his head. “Yeah, we’ve got to,” he said, “There’s something about this flyer that tells me all kinds of things.”

“Want to play detective?”  
He winked with a click of his tongue and hopped off the bed.  “Sure thing, Lewis.”

He bolted from the room and she couldn’t do anything but laugh.

Within the hour, she was packed and ready, the TARDIS helping her out by making her suitcase bigger on the inside.  She was starting to feel nervous again. How was she going to pretend to be with the Doctor?  And how was she going to fight with him to make it seem like they needed counselling?  She fought with him, sure, but it was always resolved quickly or over something so small that the two of them forgot about it within the hour.  She didn’t want to pretend to argue with him.  

She sat on the jump seat and stewed, trying to think about how best to go about this. They couldn’t arrive holding hands, it would make them look like they were too close.  But she wasn’t sure she wanted to walk into this  _ not  _ holding his hand.  

He bounded in a few moments later, holding a suitcase of his own. He set it down on the grating and headed to the console, standing near Rose.  “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, just… One question.”  
“Yeah?”

“How are we supposed to act like we’re in trouble? I know you want to use your  _ cupboard  _ thing, but that can’t be it.”  She crossed her arms over her chest. “I know, we could tell the therapists that you’re a colossal flirt.”

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “What?” 

“Well, it’s just true, honestly, I’m sure I could… Come up with a reasonable excuse to why someone’s significant other would be upset by that.”

He seemed to look a little confused, and didn’t say anything for a few moments.  “Well… I guess that is trouble that some couples would face.”  He turned to face her, and looked like he was going to say something, but didn’t say anything at all instead.  He turned back to the console and set a course.  She suddenly felt guilty for bringing up the flirting, but she felt like she had to. It was a good reason to be fighting after all.

“And what about me?” She asked. “What do I do that annoys you?”

“You ignore me in favor of your art,” he said decisively after a moment, flipping a lever with unrestrained gusto.

She felt her jaw drop. “What?”  She blinked and waited for him to look at her. “What?!”

“Sometimes, you do,” he said, shrugging.  “You draw at night when I want to talk.”

She giggled a little. “You like to talk at midnight,” she said, “And sometimes I get inspired, you know?”

He shrugged. “You could be inspired and still have a chat,” He protested.  “Did you pack your sketchbook for this 

She sighed and fell back against the jump seat. “Well, I think we’ve found our issues, then.”  She frowned, “But then people will think you’re flirting because I’m not-” she clamped her mouth shut.

He turned around, eyes dancing.  “Go on.”

“No.”

He grinned at her, looking like an absolute loon.  “No, go on.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “They’re going to think that I’m not  _ satisfying  _ you, so you flirt.”

“Oh, I’ll make it very clear that that’s not the case.  Perhaps I’m just oblivious.”

She bit back the ‘yes you are’ and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  “Yeah, okay,” she relented.  This was already going to be too much for her, she could just feel it.

The Doctor, on the other hand, seemed to be largely unaffected by the whole thing, and the flyer was up on the console screen as he directed them.  They had a rough landing and Rose’s head whipped forward, but other than that she remained right side up.  The Doctor stumbled and grabbed a railing, holding on until the TARDIS shuddered to a stop. He turned and grinned at her. “We’re here!”  
She laughed and got to her feet, taking up her suitcase.  He reached for her hand but she shook her head. “Doctor, if we’re in trouble, would we be holding hands?”  
He frowned. “I should think so,” he said, “I’ve seen plenty of couples over time and space that hate each other, but still very physical with one another.”

“And what are the… Rules, for this trip, Doctor?”

He shrugged, “We’ll base it off what the other couples do, eh?  Now, we’ve got to get ourselves on a reality show!  Come along.”

Rose wanted to drag her feet, but instead took his hand and they walked out of the TARDIS together.  He swung their hands a little and they examined the crowd around them.  Lots of couples surrounding a mansion.  They were going to pick people from the crowd to go straight into the mansion. She heard the Doctor explain it close to her ear, and Rose nodded, looking at all the blue people with two delicate antennas on the front of her forehead.  There were some off worlders, Rose could tell since they looked more like humans.  SHe chewed her bottom lip and looked to the Doctor.

“There’s a lot of people, Doctor, why would we make it?”

He smiled and squeezed her hand. “Because we’re charming, Rose Tyler.  Now, come on, let’s show some initiative.”

The Doctor seemed to know more about this than he was letting on, as he walked right up to a Kryptonon man in a suit and shook his hand.  “Hello, sir, my name is the Doctor, and this is Rose Tyler.  We really just wanted to see what we could do to get on the show. Not for the money,” he shook his head, and a forlorn expression fell over him.  “Just to save our relationship.”

“He’s a flirt,” Rose chimed in, “Says I ignore him.”

The man let go of the Doctor’s hand and smiled.  “Well, that’s what everyone’s here for.  But I do appreciate you finding me. I’m a producer of the show.”

“What can we do, sir?” Rose asked.  “I just… I want it to be alright between us.”

The man looked at her.  “Wait, I know you!”

Rose frowned. “You do?”

“You were on the last episode of Satellite Five’s ‘The Weakest Link’!  Oh, an audience loves a good callback to reality shows past!”  He clapped his hands, delighted.  “Welcome to the show!”  

Rose couldn’t believe it could be quite so easy, but she supposed people did the same thing on Earth.  Even so, it looked like they weren’t the first couple picked, as two others were being shown into the mansion.  She looked at the Doctor and shrugged, and both of them headed for the mansion behind the producer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say I am OVERWHELMED by how many reads and comments this has already????? I hope you all continue to like it so much, know that I saw each and every comment and positively squealed with delight!! Thank you!!
> 
> Enjoy!

The Doctor took her hand again on the way into the mansion behind the man.  Rose felt her jaw drop as they walked in, and she looked to the Doctor, who was beaming at her. She wanted to tell him that he shouldn’t  _ gaze  _ at her while they were pretend fighting in their pretend relationship.  Rose adjusted her grip on her suitcase and squeezed the Doctor’s hand before releasing it.  He seemed to understand and let her go, sitting down on one of the couches. Rose sat next to him, trying not to sit as close as she usually would. 

“So how many couples are being chosen?” Rose asked the producer.  
“Four,” The producer said, “So we’ll wrap it up shortly here and show you to your rooms when they’re all set up.  I’ll let them know you’re here, Rose Tyler.”

Rose blushed. “Oh, I’m not a celebrity,” she said, waving her hand.  

“Oh, but you are,” the producer clapped his blue hands together.  “Everyone knows who you are, you’re insolent and a bit sassy.  The people love it.  And if you’ll pardon me saying, with an attitude like that it’s no wonder your relationship is in trouble.”

“Alright, enough of that then,” The Doctor grinned. “I’m the Doctor, I’m the other half of said relationship.”

“Very nice,” the producer said, less than interested.  “Let us know if we can do anything to make you more comfortable in the meantime, Miss Tyler, your room will be ready soon.”

Rose smiled forcefully and nodded. “Thanks.”  When the producer was gone, she looked over at the Doctor, whose mouth was set in a grim line. She tapped his shoulder.  

“You alright?”

He looked over at her. “Certainly.”

“Mm.  You don’t like me being the favorite,” she grinned, “You’re used to being a celebrity, you know?”

He reached over and took her hand, dragging it into his lap.  “Yeah,” he admitted, “I also don’t like remembering Satellite Five.”

Her smile faded.  “Of course.  M’sorry, Doctor, I didn’t even think.  I’ll make sure they don’t talk about it-”

“No, it’s alright,” he said. “It’ll keep people interested, they love some good drama, and you seem to be promising for that already.”

“I don’t want to cause drama.”

“You might not have to,” the Doctor reassured her, “We’ll figure it out when we get into our room, yeah?  Relax a little bit.”

She nodded, wanting to sag into his side, but knowing that would make it look like they didn't’ need any help with their relationship at all. She watched the people milling about, mostly camera crew and people working on set.  They were all the same light blue with delicate antenas, most with bright blue or green eyes. They were beautiful, really, and she admired them for several moments before a humanoid woman came up to her, blocking her view. 

“Hello!” She chirped.  “I’m Cindy, from Earth!  Aren’t you from Earth too?”  
Rose blinked and reached her hand out, wincing when a strong hand shook hers.  “Um, yeah, that’s me,” she said, forcing a smile.  “Rose Tyler from Earth. This is my… Partner, the Doctor.”

“Nice to meet you, I’ve seen you on TV,” Cindy said, shaking the Doctor’s hand as well.  Her grin was a bit too rise for Rose’s taste, and if she was quite honest, she didn’t like how the girl was looking at the Doctor.  She was humanoid, all fluffy brown hair and sparkling grey eyes.  Rose grumbled a little bit, turning away from the both of them.  She didn’t see the Doctor’s eyes watch her worriedly, ignoring the woman in front of him.  

“Um, and where is your partner?” The Doctor asked.

Cindy dropped the Doctor’s hand and jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “Oh, Ronald’s back there, right barrel of laughs he is.”  She rolled her eyes.  “You’ll see.”

“Uh, so I suppose you’re having problems.”

“Aren’t the two of you having problems?”

“Yes, my… Girlfriend here seems to think I’m a tremendous flirt.”

“Oh, really?”  Cindy glanced at Rose, who was doing her very best to shoot absolute fire with her eyes.  Nodding, Cindy turned away. “Um, see you around then!”  She grinned and skipped back over to her husband, who looked like an absolute grump, really.  Rose looked at the Doctor, who was already looking at her. 

“Are you alright?” He asked her softly.

She frowned.  “You didn’t notice?” She asked, raising her eyebrows at him.  He really was partial to being a complete idiot when the moment arose for it. 

“Notice what?” He asked, laughing a little.

“She was flirting with you.”

‘But she’s… Attached.”

“Mm hm,” Rose agreed, “Doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to chase you while she’s here.”  
“Well, if we’re here to fix whatever issues we have with our relationship, why would I run off with her?” He asked her, brows drawn together.  “That would defeat the purpose.”

“That happens on shows like this sometimes,” she said, taking her hand back and picking at the skin on her thumb.  He shifted to look at her more closely.

“Not with me,” he said firmly. “Never with me.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s too bad you don’t date, Doctor.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but the producer they had spoken to clapped his hands from where he stood in the middle of the room.  “Okay! Seems as though everyone’s here, so we can get you all sorted into your rooms.  Here’s how it’ll work: you have tonight to rest and get to know each other, and part of tomorrow as well.  Tomorrow afternoon, we start with the therapy sessions!  Since we’re  _ living  _ in the future, everything is automated!   That’ll be explained when it’s happening though.  You’ll all be opening up to each other, getting to know each other!  How brilliant!”  The producer’s antenas wiggled a little and Rose really tried to pretend she wasn’t staring. 

Rose and the Doctor were called upon to go up to their room first, and the producer who had spoken to them started leading them up a winding staircase.  Rose glanced back at the other three couples and tried to stop herself from grimacing.  This was making her feel so far out of her depth that she couldn’t stop herself from taking the Doctor’s hand again.  He squeezed it and smiled down at her, reassurance written all over his face.  She sighed and watched the producer as he chatted away.

“-Really excited to have you both here!! As you must know, no one will be voted off, but there is a winner, of course.  I hope you two will see an improvement in your marriage, even if you don’t win.”  

Rose squinted. “Course.”

“Ah, and here is your room,” The producer stopped and turned by an oak door.  “I hope you find everything satisfactory. You will be called for dinner.”

“Thanks,” Rose said, smiling.  “We appreciate it.”

The producer smiled and left, and the Doctor opened the door. “Oh, wow,” he said, “It’s a suite!”

Rose followed him and noted that it was, indeed, large.  They had an en suite and a very large bedroom, with only one bed of course.  There were two dressers and the room was decorated much like a honeymoon suite.  Rose chewed her lip and looked around, feeling the pressure of the moment settle over her.  She closed the door behind her and laid her suitcase in front of the dresser, starting to unpack its contents.  

“Rose?” The Doctor asked from where he was looking out the window.  “Are you alright?”

She looked around, her eyes landing on the heart shaped pillows that were scattered across the bed.  She winced.  “Yeah.”

The Doctor shuffled his feet on the carpet and watched her for a few minutes more. “Do you need a hug?”  
She stopped unpacking her trousers and got to her feet, looking into his earnest eyes. “Yeah,” She said softly.  

They walked towards each other and Rose wrapped her arms around his waist, burrowing into his chest.  He wrapped his arms around her back and rubbed gently, calming her.  “I can take the floor if you want,” he murmured.

She frowned and shook her head. “No,” she said softly, “We can share, the bed’s huge.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You don’t make me uncomfortable,” she replied, closing her eyes. “I’m more worried about everybody else making me uncomfortable.”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and leaned his cheek there.  “It’s alright,” he said, “I know it’s going to be awhile to make it fit, but we’ve done a little bit of undercover work before, eh? Should be easy!”

She giggled. “Should be.”

He pulled back, staring down into her eyes.  “Do you doubt me, Rose Tyler?” He asked, trying to sound offended.

She shook her head, still laughing a little. “No, of course not!  Just… Have you ever been on reality TV?”

“Big Brother.”

“That doesn’t count, you weren’t on it for the whole thing,” She said.

He nodded. “I suppose it doesn’t.  Well, we’re both going into this a little blind, aren’t we?” He asked, smiling kindly at her.  She nodded and hugged him once more, just needing the feeling of his warmth for just a few minutes longer.  She wanted to ask him to not flirt with Cindy, or the other two women that were downstairs, but that was part of their story, and it would just emphasize their point.

He squeezed her shoulders and they both pulled away from each other, Rose headed to unpack the rest of her suitcase, and the Doctor to snoop around the room. She watched him, having a feeling he was looking for cameras and that he would tell her if he found anything. He’d probably tell her in some weird kind of code, but he’d tell her.  She went back to unpacking, trying to ignore his rummaging around the best that he could.

“Uh, Rose…. Dear.”

Well, there was the code.

She turned over her shoulder.  “Yeah?”  
“Ahh… Do you want first crack and putting your things in the bathroom?”

She nodded.  “I guess, sure.  Do you want to put your stuff in there too?”  
“Well, I will.”  He lifted a shoulder, shoving his hands in his pockets.  “You have more things than me… Love.”

She grinned at his awkward phrasing. He was trying to tell her there were cameras in the room, and she picked up on it straight away.  “Okay, sweetheart, just give me one minute.”

The look on his face was so worth it.

The afternoon passed slowly, as Rose couldn’t really know what to do about it, how to start a conversation. Should they fight?  Is that what the cameras wanted?  She swallowed hard, looking at herself in the bathroom mirror.  This was ridiculous. He was the Doctor, her best friend in the world, and she could do it.  She knew she could. She rearranged the rest of her makeup and left the Doctor to put his things away, sitting on the big bed and setting her sketchbook down in front of her.  She flipped past the drawings of all her friends, past one she had done of the Doctor in his previous body, and finally landed on a blank page.  She began drawing, sketching the outline of the Kyrptonons.  They were an odd people, but she liked them. They seemed very excited about life, and about their reality show.  She supposed they were like humans, in that way.  

The Doctor came out of the bathroom and sat next to her.  “That’s really wonderful,” he said softly, looking over her shoulder. 

“Mm,” She turned and rested her lips close to his ear, whispering, “Don’t I ignore you in favor of my art, Doctor?” She turned back to her book then, but not before she saw his cheeks turn pink.

“Ah… And how long do you think you’ll be drawing?” He asked. “I thought we could talk.”

“We can talk anytime, love,’ she said, surprised with how easily she fell into her role.  

He frowned and got to his feet. “I don’t know why you think you can just ignore me.  It’s very annoying.”

She frowned. “You can talk about it tomorrow if you’d like,” She said, “At the therapy session.”

“We don’t know what the therapy session entails.  I wish we could’ve just sorted it out before we had to come here.”  

She frowned. “Why don’t you go talk to CIndy about it?” She snapped.

“Oh, so  _ that’s  _ the problem.” 

“You’re too nice,” she mumbled, not able to look at him as she said it.

The Doctor turned towards the big window, which was apparently a balcony.  “Meet me out on the balcony when you feel like talking,” He said, giving her a glare before heading outside.  

She waited a few moments before following him, shutting the sliding glass door behind her. 

“There’s no cameras out here,” he blurted out.

“Phew,” She breathed out and smiled up at him.  “Maybe we’ll just spend all our time out here then.”

He sighed, “Sounds good to me.  I don’t want to have to fake fight you anymore.”

She laughed. “Me either.”

“Well, then, we’ll sit here till dinner.”  
She retrieved her sketchbook and drew next to him as the two of them talked.  Only when someone came up to fetch them for dinner that they put the fake masks on of an unhappy couple.

It occurred to Rose that maybe they were quite happy on their own.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPEECHLESS by the love on this!!! Thank you all so much !!!! 
> 
> enjoy!

They went down to dinner not hand in hand which was very annoying to Rose.  She wanted to cross her arms to compensate but didn’t, noting that none of the other couple’s were holding hands.  Ronald and Cindy were bickering where they sat at the table, and Rose tugged the Doctor to the other end of the table. She knew it was a fair explanation that she didn’t want the Doctor near Cindy because of her story, but she also just really didn’t want him near Cindy.  As if to prove her point, the woman waved to the Doctor.

“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked after he had waved back.  She forced a smile at him. 

“I’m brilliant.” She nodded, trying not to fidget too much, though really all she wanted to do was fidget.

He pulled her chair out and sat down next to her after she was comfortable.  He always did things like that, was always a gentleman, so she wasn’t surprised by this.  It was always nice, though, and she found that she never got tired of him doing little nice things for her.  Unfortunately, she knew he didn’t do it because of any  _ feelings  _ he had for her, but because of what he was brought up to be.  She supposed.  Rose found she was doing a lot of supposing these days.

A blue couple sat across from the Doctor and Rose, their antennae wiggling.  The man smiled at them both, though he looked as though he might be a little shy.

“Hello,” he said, “I see the two of you are not from Kryptonon, how are you finding it?”

“It’s lovely,” Rose said, “Really… Lovely.”

The woman nodded.  “We’ve been here our whole lives, but we wish we could travel more.”

“Oh, we love to travel!” The Doctor said, beaming.  “We just… Bicker a lot now, and it’s difficult to enjoy it.”

Rose almost laughed but fought it down, instead nodding somberly in agreement with the Doctor.

The man smiled wryly.  “We can relate to that.”  he nudged his wife, Rose noted by the ring on the woman’s finger.  “We fight nearly all the time.”

“Yeah,” Rose twisted the skin on her finger.  “Um, that’s why we’re here, yeah?  To maybe… Stop fighting.  Stop being insecure.”

“Amen to that, my dear!” The woman raises her glass of wine (or something equivalent) and it’s not her first, judging by the expression on her husband’s face.  Rose forces a smile but doesn’t say anything, not sure what she would say even so.  

“What do you think this therapy will be?” The Doctor blurted out, unable to keep doing domestic small talk for much longer.  She was not surprised by this, but also terribly relieved. She found that the longer she traveled with the Doctor, the less she felt the need for trivial things like the weather and silly problems. Her world was simply much larger than that now.  She caught herself gazing at him fondly and snapped out of it, turning away from him entirely.

“Between you and me,” the woman was saying in a low tone to her, “I think that woman has a bit of a crush on your-”

Rose frowned. “I noticed.  She’s not terribly subtle, is she?”

The woman shook her head. “Those two won’t last. Trust me.”

“What’s your name?” Rose asked. 

The woman extended a slim hand across the table. “Violet.”

“I’m a flower too, m’names Rose.”

Violet laughed. “Brilliant! I know my parents really had a flair for Earth. I think you and me can stick together, Rose.”

Rose smiled, and for what felt like the first time since they’d been there, it was a genuine one.  “Yeah, I think so too.”

Dinner was served and everyone started chatting, but Rose had been around enough people to know who was faking it and who wasn’t.  Cindy and her husband were obviously in real trouble.  Terrible trouble, if the way Cindy kept making snarky remarks about the man next to her were anything to go by.  Rose looked at the Doctor, who was frowning. 

“I don’t think that man has done anything to warrant her being so cruel,” he whispered next to her ear.

“Do you think she’s doing it on purpose?” Rose asked, furrowing her brows.  “So they show a bigger improvement than the rest of us as time goes on, and they win the money?”

The Doctor lifted a shoulder.  “Could be,” He acknowledged.  “Or she’s just a colossal-”

Rose smacked his leg under the table.  “Behave,” she said, though she found herself smiling.  

The Doctor winked at her.  “She is though.  So even in our pretend scenario, you don’t have to be jealous of Cindy, because honestly it would be insulting.”

Rose wanted to be offended, but the Doctor had a point. She had no reason to be jealous of Cindy.  The Doctor, as much of an obvious alien git as he was, wouldn’t go after a married woman.  

“Yeah,” she admitted.

The dinner went pretty smoothly, which was a bit surprising to Rose. She accepted someone to fight, of throw something, but no one did, which was quite nice, really.  Rose chatted with Violet for most of the dinner, and then everyone retired to the living room to drink. The Doctor poured a whisky for himself and a glass of wine for Rose. She smiled as he sat down next to her. 

“Domestic talk,” he whispered.

She grinned. “I’m very good at it.”

He blew out his cheeks and looked forward. “Don’t I know it.”  
They were all small talking, mostly, until Cindy blurted out, “So what kind of problems do you think they’ll have us talking about in therapy tomorrow?  It’s supposed to be revolutionary.”

Rose blinked. “What?”

Cindy rolled her eyes, “You know, the  _ robots.   _ It’s group therapy, we’ll all be together, but there isn’t some condescending therapists!”

Rose frowned. “I don’t think therapists are-”

“Anyway,” Ronald said, giving his wife a nervous glance.  “I don’t think we need to talk about this. We’ll see it tomorrow, and we don't’ want anyone to be worried about anything before it’s necessary.”

“I agree,” the Doctor chimed in.  “it’s going to be an emotional day tomorrow, so we should all rest up tonight.”

“Or get all that anxiety out of our systems,” Violet’s husband said hopefully.  

“Or that,” Cindy said, though she was looking at the Doctor and not Ronald.

The quiet couple, who had been in the corner all night, not speaking to anyone, looked at each other, antennas wiggling.

“What are they doing?” Rose asked behind her wine glass.

“Could be mute.  Could be they don’t want us to know what they’re saying,” The Doctor replied.  “They’re communicating with their antennas.” 

Rose took another sip of her drink and hummed a little.  “Interesting.  How are they going to do therapy if they won’t talk?”  She narrowed her eyes. “Are they spying on us?” Rose asked softly. 

“Maybe,” the Doctor said, “Very astute, Lewis.”

“And what are you two talking about?” Cindy asked, drawing them out of their private little conversation. 

While Rose blushed, the Doctor didn’t seem too fazed, and stared Cindy down.  “I was just telling Rose about all the things we’re going to do tonight,” he said as he drank down the rest of his drink.  Rose choked on hers as Cindy’s smile faded in a jealous sort of way.   _ That  _ changed Rose’s discomfort right around into a sort of knowing smirk.  Not that she knew anything at all, but Cindy didn’t know that.  

Violet and her husband laughed uproariously at the Doctor’s comment, and everyone seemed to decide that it was time to get up to bed.  The Doctor took Rose’s glass and took them both to the counter, explaining that it wouldn’t be fair to make other people have to come up to their rooms later and clean up the mess.  They all went upstairs and Violet grinned at Rose. “Have a good night, Rose,” she winked and Rose felt her face light on fire.  She forced a grin back before following the Doctor into their room.  He locked the door behind them.

“Not sure if anyone’s gonna come in,” he explained.  “Or try to. These people are very strange.”

“Stranger than other people you’ve met?” Rose asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, some but not all.”  He smiled.  “Also, erm, sorry.  Didn’t mean to be so vulgar in front of everyone.”  He rubbed the back of his neck and watched her worriedly.  She smiled, hoping to ease his worries at least a little.

She reached forward and patted his chest.  “S’alright.  I’m very good looking after all, can’t expect you to be a saint in public.”

He let out a surprised bark of laughter and she gathered up some pajamas, taking them to the bathroom with her. 

She took her time in the shower, wondering now more than ever what she was going to do.  She didn’t know if she could take him saying things like that to her when he didn’t mean it.  They’d be sharing a bed, forced to touch and fight, and she wasn’t sure if her heart could take it.  But she’d agreed to it, for whatever  _ stupid  _ reason. She knew it was because she would do anything for him.  It just hurt that he wouldn’t do anything for her. Had he really even considered her in all of this?  She knew deep down that it was unfair of her to blame him for something like that.  He was doing what the Doctor did: following a hunch and saving the world.  He might be on to something with this place. 

When she finally stepped out of the shower, she looked at her makeup-free face in the mirror and brushed her hair out.  Blowing out her cheeks and pulling her pajamas on, she walked out of the bathroom only to see the Doctor already in bed, in his jim jams, reading a book.

“What are you reading?” She asked him, furrowing her brows.  Why had he even brought a book from the TARDIS?  She hadn’t thought to bring anything for entertainment.  

“Quantum mechanics,” he said, his eyes still focused on the book.

She was secretly relieved that he’d already gotten in bed, so they didn’t have to have the ‘which side’ discussion in front of all the cameras.  Rose had a feeling that they were watching to see how this first night would go. Though who ‘they’ was, Rose wasn’t really sure.  She got into bed next to the Doctor, turning over on her side, facing away from him.  

“Going to sleep already?” He asked her, though she was sure she didn’t have his full attention.

“Mm,” she said, closing her eyes, “Been a long day for me, Doctor.  Don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

She heard the gentle thump of his book shutting, and he laid down stiffly on his back after turning the lights out.  Rose smiled to herself, realizing she had an opportunity here that she didn’t often have.  

“Doctor?”

“Yes, Rose?”

“You never hold me anymore,” she said, making it sound mournful for the cameras.  She hoped the cameras got turned off when everyone was asleep.  The Doctor seemed to catch on and rolled over, spooning up against her, his arm wrapping firmly around her waist.  Rose felt guilt for a moment as he situated himself behind her, knees behind hers and legs tangling, but Rose knew deep down it was the role they had to play, as stressful and painful as it was.  

He was so close to her that she could feel his hearts pounding against her back, his breath on the back of her neck.  He was nice and cool, so she wasn’t feeling smothered like she sometimes was with human men when snuggling.  Not that she’d done a lot of that, really.  She pushed back against him as he pulled the covers up over them, noting he was keeping his hips far from hers.  She felt him hesitate for a few moments before pressing a lingering kiss to her temple that made her sigh softly.  “Goodnight, Rose,” he said softly, breath whispering over her skin.

She closed her hand over his where it lay on her stomach.  “Goodnight, Doctor,” she whispered back, as he tucked his nose into her hair. 

It took several minutes, but as the Doctor fell asleep against her, she found herself relaxing.  How she was going to do this without revealing her feelings to the Doctor, she wasn’t sure, but as long as he kept holding her like this, she had a feeling that she really might not mind at all.


	4. Chapter 4

When Rose woke up, it was only to find that she and the Doctor had shifted around in their sleep.  She was surprised he slept at all, actually, but she supposed he couldn’t do his usual nightly puttering around here.  Rose now had her head pillowed on the Doctor’s chest, his arms wrapped around her torso.  He wasn’t awake yet, she could tell by the rise and fall of his chest under her cheek.  She couldn’t say she was surprised, she was always a natural cuddler, and he was pleasant to cuddle  _ with.   _

It was nice though, this… Whatever it was. Snuggling, she supposed, would be an adequate word for what they were doing. Just being held by him was enough to make her dizzy, really, and she liked it so well that she might have burrowed just a bit closer to him and let her eyes fall shut again, but no one had to know that but her.  He smelled like tea and sandalwood, an odd combination, but something that made sense.  She knew if her head rested a little higher she would smell the aftershave and hair product that he used that she could smell when she hugged him.  It was nice, the familiarity that she had with him.  She couldn’t remember feeling it for anybody else, not even Mickey. That didn’t count because she didn’t think she had ever been in love with him.

And it would’ve been ideal if there hadn’t been shouting to wake them up, but there had been.  Apparently Cindy and Ronald were in the room next to theirs.  

“Well, if you’d just keep to  _ your  _ side of the bed, we wouldn’t have an issue!” Cindy was shrieking, and it was clear that she was the one escalating the argument to shouting levels.

“Oh, is it so bad that I want to touch my wife!?” Ronald shouted in reply, “That’s part of marriage! I can’t even cuddle you, you get so upset!”

“I don’t want you to touch me!” Rose winced at that one.  She knew that even though the Doctor wasn’t hers, she wanted him to touch her all the time.

“I haven’t touched you in three years!” Ronald yelled back and his voice broke as he said, “You’re right next to me and yet I miss you all the time.”

“I feel bad for him,” the Doctor said in a voice gravelly with sleep, and Rose jolted, not realizing that he’d woken up.  He skimmed his hand over her back to calm her.  “She’s not good to him, is she?”

“No,” Rose agreed, “I mean, look, I know that sometimes people don’t want to be touched, but why marry someone at all if you won’t let them near you?”

“I was asking myself the same thing,” he agreed.  “Doesn’t really make a lot of sense, does it?”  
She hummed and cuddled closer to him, forgetting herself for just a moment. “No, it doesn’t.”

“Not sure their marriage will make it.”

“I’m not sure that she wants it to,” Rose said softly, “She wants them to fall apart, that’s why she’s  _ flirting with you.” _

He hummed but said nothing, continuing to trail his fingers over her back in a way that was quickly lulling her back to sleep.

Just then, the sound of speakers clicking and turning on came through the room, and a mechanical voice blared: “Therapy sessions will begin in one hour.  Please return to the living area to prepare.”

“I have to wash my hair,” Rose rolled out of the Doctor’s embrace and started throwing together an outfit for the day.  The Doctor watched her, his eyes still heavy with sleep, as she dashed around the room.

“Can I have the bathroom after you?”  He asked.  

This was the domestics he feared, wasn’t it?  She stared at him, waiting for him to freak out after such a statement, but he didn’t.  He just watched her, waiting for a reply.  She swallowed.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “Sure, I won’t be long.”

She washed her hair, changed, and put makeup on in record time before coming out just as the Doctor was finishing changing.  He was wearing a different suit, a grey one, and it was just as sexy as any other suit that he had worn around her.  Had he only packed suits? She breathed out a sigh and forced a smile before slipping past him.

They went downstairs, though it seemed that they were the first ones.  The rest of them were upstairs either fighting or sleeping, but breakfast was already set out at the table, so the two of them sat next to each other at the table and started eating.  Rose crossed her legs under the table and pointed at the plates.  “Some of these don’t look… Normal.”

The Doctor pointed at one of the plates, “Some of them are just discolored or shaped differently.  You’ve got your bacon, eggs, fruits-”

“That’s not fruit.”

“It’s Kryptonon fruit, Rose, don’t be so closed minded.”

She shot him a look and stabbed one of the round red fruits with her fork.  “They look like candy.”

“They taste like fruit.”

She took a bite of the fruit and nodded a little bit.  “Alright, I guess so.”

They ate in silence for a bit, which was how they spent most mornings on the TARDIS, since Rose needed her tea usually.  The Doctor seemed to remember this and got to his feet.  “I’m going to make a cuppa.  Want one, love?”

Her stomach dropped. She always wish,  _ dreamed  _ that he would call her that, and now he was, but it was fake. She looked up at him, blinking a couple times so she didn’t seem to be as affected by it as she was.  

“Yes, please,” she said, and he left to go to the kitchen, which, while being provided for them, seemed to be used minimally.  Rose wondered if they were going to use the kitchen at all, or if it was just for snacking.  She continued eating as she heard the Doctor rummaging around in the kitchen. She could only hope that he wasn’t going to break anything.  He was  _ very  _ good at that, when it came down to it.  

Cindy and Ronald came down while the Doctor was making their tea, Ronald’s face sad and Cindy’s looking like it was ready for war.  Rose blinked when she looked at them, surprised to see such cartoonish reactions on human beings.  

“Good morning,” Rose said, offering a smile.  

“Good morning,” Ronald replied while Cindy scowled.  They sat down across from her, but no conversation started up.  Violet, her husband, and the other couple came downstairs shortly after, and Violet started talking to Rose, livening up the table a bit.  Rose barely noticed when the Doctor came back in the room until a mug appeared in front of her and he kissed the top of her head.  

“Thank you,” Rose said, smiling up at him.

“Oh, he made you tea!” Violet clapped her hands.  “Is it the way you like it?”

Rose shrugged.  “Yeah.  Whoever’s up first makes the tea.”

“I would’ve made you lot some if I’d known,” The Doctor shrugged, sitting down next to Rose with his own mug.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Violet’s husband waved.  “It’s really nice to see that the two of you are still so in love, even if you have problems.  Gives the rest of us hope.”

The Doctor coughed into his mug and Rose had to restrain herself from frowning. If only they knew how much the Doctor didn’t love her.  They had no idea, mostly because he was such a bloody good actor.  Of course, she knew that he probably had feelings of affection for her, but it was nothing near the depth of the feelings that she had for him. Those were so deep that sometimes she would look at him and they would surprise her.  She really did care for him so much.  And he had no idea.

Luckily, neither of them had to verbally answer, because a voice chimed down from the ceiling: “Please enter the sitting room for therapy.”

Rose took her mug with her, still needing to wake up. The Doctor downed his in a few gulps, ever impatient, and followed her and the rest of the couples to the sitting room.  They sat together on one of the long couches with Violet and her husband (Whose name, they finally discovered, was Lin) with the quiet couple sitting close together on the other couch.  Cindy and Ronald sat on one chair each, far away from each other.  

They all stared at each other for a bit, waiting for something to happen, when the coffee table in the middle of the room wheeled to the front of the room and opened up, revealing a sleek looking television.  On it was what looked like a teleprompter.  

“I am your virtual counseling professional, addressed by you as ‘IQ’.  I have been created by real professionals who are monitoring me from a lab, making sure I ask each couple the right questions for their issues.  Since _The Doctor_ and _Rose Tyler_ were the first to awaken this morning, the two of you will go first. Please stand in front of me and face each other.  Is that alright?”  
“Brilliant!” The Doctor clapped his hands and got to his feet.  Rose reached over and set her mug on the end table before getting to her feet as well, clenching her hands to stop their shaking.  She stood in front of the Doctor and watched as he winked at her, hoping to reassure her, she knew. 

“Very good.  First question I wish for you to discuss with each other, what are your problems?”

Rose looked down at her hands. “Um.  I don’t like it when he flirts,” she said, her voice sounding robotic, even to her own ears. “I just… He doesn’t know when to  _ stop,  _ and he doesn’t know, or maybe he doesn’t care, how uncomfortable it makes me.  He talks to other girls like they’re the… End all be all, and I’m just someone that’s a sure thing.  I’ll always be there to have adventures with, you know?  But these exotic girls, he thinks they’re better than me.  It makes me feel like I’m… I’m not good enough.”

She wasn’t sure when her internal script had turned into the truth, but there it was, out on the table, and she could only hope that the Doctor would think that it was part of whatever game they were playing at.  He watched her when she lifted her eyes to his, and something sad in them made her wonder if he knew.  Her heart sank. 

“And you, Doctor?” The machine asked.

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times.  “You- Well, maybe I wouldn’t flirt if you paid attention to me. Rose is an amazing artist, IQ, really brilliant, but sometimes it takes her over, and she sits holed up in… Our room all by herself, just sketching.  And I can’t stand it.  Oh, that didn’t sound right did it? I love Rose’s art.  But sometimes, I’ll have a one sided conversation and she’ll look up at me once I’m done and just say ‘what did you say?’ and- I just don’t know if she cares.”

Rose furrowed her brows.  She knew that she’d done it before, ignored him on accident, but this was something else entirely. He really felt that way?  He seemed so serious, and she wasn’t sure if he was acting or not.  She swallowed hard and made eye contact with him.  His lips were pressed tight together, and his face showed little to no emotion, which scared her more than anything. She hated when she couldn’t read him, when she couldn’t even guess what he was thinking.

“How can the two of you fix these parts of your relationship that hurt you?  Try to speak without emotion,” IQ told them.

“I could… Be careful about how I’m speaking,” The Doctor said, searching her eyes even still.  “Make sure all the women we meet know who I- that is to say, where I-”  He cleared his throat, “Where my loyalties lie.”

Rose smiled a little at him. “And I could make sure that I pay attention when you come in the room, even when I think you aren’t going to talk,” she forced a laugh, “You’re  _ always  _ going to talk.”

The other couples tittered a little and Rose found herself among them, understanding where the humor came from.  

“Very good!  This is the first step: speaking honestly with one another.  Is there any other grievances you have with one another?”  
“You never think to take me with you when we visit your mum,” The Doctor blurted.

She furrowed her brows.  “You don’t like my mum!”

He scuffed his toe on the ground.  “No, but it would be nice if you’d take me when you go to parties with your old friends, you know?  When you go out to eat and such.”

Somehow, Rose saw right through him and knew it was genuine.  “Really?”

He nodded.  ‘Yeah. You just skip right out and it makes me wonder if you want to… Leave.”

She shook her head. “I don’t.”

“I know that, I do, I just… I wonder.”  He shrugged, “You could have a more normal life, without me.”  
“I don’t want that,” she said, “I want _you.”_ And once she said that, she knew she’d said too much.

IQ congratulated them and asked them more trivial questions about their relationship that they were able to fake, and by the time their turn was over, Rose was reeling so hard that she didn’t know how she’d make it through this trip without a mental breakdown.  The Doctor reached over and took her hand, and she realized that  _ that  _ was how.  It still made her heart hurt, to know none of this was real.


	5. Chapter 5

 

They learned, throughout the therapy session (that Rose could be bothered to pay attention to) that Cindy had cheated on Ronald multiple times, that Violet and Lin argued  _ mercilessly  _ over the stupidest things, which IQ assured them would be worked upon during the sessions.  For now though, it emphasized, it was important that they just get everything out in the open.  If they could all be honest in front of each other, that was the first step.  

Rose’s heart was still pounding from their own admissions when the last couple got up.  They weren’t mute, but they did speak very silently.  Neither of them said their names, and they spoke quietly about how they didn’t feel as though they loved each other anymore, but their planet frowned upon divorce.  One of the aliens looked at the other and said softly, “I only wish to love him again.”

Well, Rose wasn’t sure that was reason enough to come on a reality show.  Her instinct that had been put in place from traveling with the Doctor fired up and she looked over at him.  He met her eyes and nodded.  He’d heard it too.

IQ cut into their thoughts, stating, “Excellent work, everyone!  You are well on your way to recovery. I would encourage each of you to talk about these things further throughout the day, maybe discuss solutions with one another.  Tonight we will have our first exercise, you will have free time until then.”

IQ wheeled itself into the closet and the couples all sat and stared at each other.  Rose got to her feet and rushed to the kitchen to make herself a cuppa.  The Doctor started to follow her but heard Lin stop him, saying “No mate, she needs to be alone.”

Violet, however, was not stopped and followed Rose to the kitchen.  Rose turned around and ran her hand through her hair before pointing to the stove. “Cuppa?”

Violet nodded. “Sure,” she said, “Are you alright?”

“Um, yeah,” She said, though she was fumbling and dropping things as she worked to set up the kettle.  “I just- we’re usually not that honest with each other, and he said some things I wasn’t expecting.”

“I think he thinks your feelings are hurt,” Violet offered softly.

Rose pressed her lips together and nodded. “I think he does too,” She whispered, “But it’s not that, it’s really not.  Just-” She blew out her cheeks. “It’s a lot, you know?  It’s just a lot.”

Violet nodded. “I know,” She crossed her arms, “And it’s a bit much to talk about your arguments in front of strangers,” she lifted a shoulder, “We don’t know these people.”

Rose let out a shaky sigh and nodded. “Yeah,” She agreed, “And I don’t like Cindy.”

“That shrew?” Violet snorted, “Both you and I could pound her into the ground with one hand tied behind our backs,” She smiled when Rose laughed. “But your Doctor doesn’t have eyes for anyone but you.”

Rose’s smile slipped as she remembered everyone the Doctor had had eyes for while he’d been traveling with her.  She offered Violet a tight lipped smile. “Well, you know, he has a wandering eye.”

“Has he ever done anything to make you distrust him?”

She thought on that for a moment, turning up the flame under the kettle. She remembered being abandoned in a space ship while he sauntered into France to save the day.  She’d told Mickey so many times that things would be all right, that the Doctor would come, but in the moment, she didn't believed it.  She lifted a shoulder in response to Violet’s question.  “Sometimes,” she admitted. “And what about you and your husband?”

Violet shook her head, bouncy, curly hair shaking in her face.  “We married so young, we were so different.  But we were blinded by love and we didn’t care, and now it gets in our way.” She smiled. “I do so love him though.”

The two women shared their cuppa, thankfully interrupted, and Rose realized that if there was one person in this house she could talk to, it was Violet.  She was maybe just a bit younger than Jackie, and had all the spirit of life that a younger person did.  When Rose and Violet left the kitchen, Rose was feeling much better.  The Doctor stopped her as she tried to slip up the stairs unnoticed.

“Are you tired?” He asked her.

She furrowed her brows. “A little?  Why?”

“Um.  I’ll come with you.”  And with that he started up the stairs.  She followed him up the stairs, not wanting to be left dowstaris with the others.  He was mounting the stairs two at a time and Rose had to run to keep up.  By the time they reached their room, the Doctor looked anxious and Rose was out of breath.  

“What was that all about?” She asked.

“Come here.”  

She followed him to the balcony and realized he probably just wanted to talk without the cameras.  She sat down on one of the patio chairs, still breathing heavily, and he followed.  

“It’s them, the quiet couple,” The Doctor said, “There’s something off about them, I know you saw it too.”  
She nodded slowly.  “Yeah, but I’m wondering if they’re just weird.  I think Cindy and Ronald might-”

“You just don’t like Cindy.”

She frowned.  “Well, if you aren’t going to listen to me, then I’ll go inside and draw and not listen to  _ you.”   _ She stood up but he reached over and grabbed her wrist, resignation in his eyes.  

“Sorry,” He said, “I’m sorry.”

She sat down again, pulling her wrist from his grasp.  “I’m smart, Doctor,” She said bluntly, “I know you think that I’m just a human and you don’t think I can comprehend things, but I know how  _ people  _ operate.  And there’s something that Cindy and Ronald are hiding.”

The Doctor blinked. “I don’t think you’re stupid.”

She leaned back. “I know,” she admitted.  “I’m sorry, this is just- it’s difficult.  I don’t like talking like that in front of people we don’t know.”

“Me neither.”  He grimaced.

“Did you mean it?” She asked suddenly, “What you said about you wanting me to bring you to stuff with Shireen and them?”

He looked away from her suddenly and lifted a shoulder.  “I suppose,” he said, and she could tell that his voice was forced casual.  “It just feels like you’re ashamed of me.  Or, more so, ashamed of how I am- being friends with me.”

Rose frowned, pulling her feet up onto the chair.  “I didn’t realize it upset you.  You always seemed so uncomfortable when I took you out to the clubs and stuff, before,” she said.  “You hated it.”

“When I was- That was before-” he squirmed a bit in his seat.  “When I was younger.”

“Your last you?” Rose asked to clarify.

He nodded. “I’m different now.”

“How so?”  

“I don’t mind your friends,” he admitted, “Because, you know, I don’t look quite so old anymore.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t look that old.  All my friends wanted to pull you.”

The Doctor looked away from her, the tips of his ears turning red.  “Yes, I know.  Anyway, can we change the subject?” he asked.  “Why do you think Cindy and Ronald would be… Involved in something nefarious?”

Rose tilted her head, regarding him carefully. She wanted to keep talking about the same line of conversation that they were focused on, but he was clearly done with it, and she didn’t want to push it.  “Well, they’re clearly too far gone to even be married anymore.  Why even try?”

“What do you mean?” He asked.  “Surely everyone would want to try to fix their marriages, right?”  
“But she’s cheated several times,” Rose protested.  “I dunno about you, but I would’ve left by now.”    
He looked at her admiringly. “You would?”

“Course I would.  Well, I mean, maybe not in the past, but now that I’m older and smarter, then yeah.”

“Well, maybe Ronald just isn’t as strong as you, hm?”

She shook her head. “I think he’s sad,” she said softly, “And lonely.  Like he said this morning, she’s his wife and he misses her.”

“Do you think he’ll try to… Cheat back?” He asked.  

She shrugged. “I don’t know,” She said, “I hope not.  Kind of kills his credibility?  With the therapists that are listening.”

He nodded, seeming to agree.  “I guess that would be true, yes.”  He leaned towards her.  “But don’t you think the quiet couple could be suspicious as well?”

“I mean, yeah,” She said, “But the question is, what are they doing?”

They didn’t talk about the rest of what had happened in therapy, which, Rose was sure was the intention of the therapists.  She wished that he  _ would  _ talk, and she also wished that the therapists were real people in the room with them.  It all just felt so surreal, and Rose wasn’t sure this was going to be as easy as she thought.  Of course, that thought left ship long ago, leaving all her yearning for the Doctor and insecurities behind. 

“I’m gonna take a nap,” Rose said finally. 

“Are you alright?” The Doctor asked instead.  She nodded. 

“Yeah, just been a long day already and we have some sort of exercise tonight.  That’s all.”

He stood up and touched her shoulder gently.  “Do you need a hug?” He whispered softly, looking as though he was afraid she would reject him.  

Rose nodded, never really wanting to turn down a hug from the Doctor.  She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck.  He sighed and hugged her back, squeezing her around the waist.  “I’m starting to feel very guilty about this,” he admitted.

“It’s our job,” She replied, “Protecting the universe, you know?” 

“Yeah, I suppose.”

She pressed her nose to his neck and breathed out a long sigh.  “Thought that would get you more excited.”

“I don’t like seeing you upset.”

She pulled back and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll take you clubbing when we go back, yeah?” She grinned at him and slid back into the room.  She was met with the lowering of a computer. 

“Rose Tyler, you are needed to prepare for the exercise tonight. You will not see your partner for the rest of the day.  Come downstairs now.”

Rose turned around and looked at the Doctor, who nodded.  “Go ahead,” He said, “I’ll see you later.”

She left the room to see Violet, Ronald, and one of the members of the quiet couple leaving their rooms as well.  Ronald looked a little bit frightened until he saw the others, and the four of them all walked downstairs without saying anything. 

IQ was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and led all of them to a basement door, explaining they would need to go down there.  Rose was uncomfortable, but with a quick glance to Violet, she walked down the stairs first.  

The basement opened up into a huge room with chairs set up and an open casket at the front of the room.  Rose’s jaw dropped.

“What the hell?” Violet’s voice piped up from next to her. “What is this?”

IQ, of course, had to take some sort of elevator, and appeared at the side of the room, next to the casket.  “Tonight, each of your partners will witness what it would be like to attend your funeral. They will be asked to pay their respects to you and give a eulogy.  Ronald, you will go first.”

Ronald sputtered next to Rose.  “This is too far!”   


“Do you wish to save your marriage?”   


“Well, yes!”

“Then it is not too far.  You will all be dressed in funeral attire and seated in the funeral until it is your turn to have one of your own.  I will be watching and the therapists will be watching as well to make sure no unsatisfactory actions are taken.  Respect is demanded of your partners, and if any are disrespectful, you will be eliminated and removed from the house.  Is that understood?”

“Yes,” everyone in the room said firmly, and they were hustled to a back room to get changed. 

Rose wished for all world that she could say no to this. If anything, this would be the exercise that would break the Doctor.


	6. Chapter 6

 

The fact that this was making Rose sweat was not surprising.  The Doctor had watched his planet burn, so watching her funeral would be terrible for him.  She tried to tell IQ that when she exited the dressing room in a sweeping purple gown, but she was quickly ushered into a seat and silenced, sitting next to Violet.

“You don’t understand,” Rose tried to tell the computer, but she was ignored.  She slumped in her seat.  “I don’t like this.”

“Me either,” Violet admitted, “But we signed up for it, you know.”

“I know.”  She heaved a sigh, knowing that it was the Doctor's idea in the first place.  Try as she might, she couldn’t stop worrying, even as Ronald was put in the coffin.  He looked around nervously before laying down.  He was dressed in a suit and right when he laid down he looked like he was dead.  IQ instructed him to close his eyes and settle in, and she called for Cindy over the speaker. 

Cindy really took her sweet time getting downstairs, and when she did, IQ stated, “Cindy, you are here to read the eulogy for your husband, Ronald.”

Rose turned to see Cindy’s eyes widen. “What is this?” she asked.  “What  _ is  _ this?”

“Please remain calm and pay your respects.”

When she did, it sounded mechanical, and her eulogy for him was very bland and Rose felt her heart sink for the man.  At the very last moment, Cindy shifted uncomfortably and said quietly, “And I love him very much.”  As quiet as the words were, Rose had a feeling that they were sincere.  

“Ronald, you may sit up,” IQ said.  Ronald got up and Rose saw tears misting in Cindy’s eyes as she turned to embrace her husband, burying her face in his neck.  He patted her back and reassured her quietly as he got out of the coffin.  

Violet let out a quiet, yet dramatic gasp next to Rose.  “It has a heart!” She whispered, and Rose had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.  

“Rose Tyler, you will be next,” IQ announced, and Rose’s smile slipped.  All of sudden, none of this was funny any more.  She got to her feet and smoothed down the dress, knowing perfectly well that there were no wrinkles in the fabric.  Clearing her throat, she lifted her head and walked to the casket.  She got inside, feeling the dress ride up around her, and lay back, feeling the thick pillow cushion her head and neck.  It was an eerie feeling, her bottom half covered by a  _ coffin,  _ and she knew the next time that would happen would be when she was dead.  

Not that it was something she wanted to think on too hard, though.

She closed her eyes when IQ instructed her to, and then the Doctor was called for.  Her heart was pounding in her chest as she prayed that he wouldn’t overreact to this.  He would have reason to, of course, but it could blow their cover.  With what IQ said about misconduct…  They were in serious trouble.”

Rose was so attuned to the Doctor that she could hear his footsteps, felt him scuff to a stop.  The room was so quiet that Rose almost threw herself out of the casket, but stayed still, knowing it was vital that she do so.

“Why is she in a casket?” He asked lowly.

“Please remain calm and pay your respects,” IQ said, repeating exactly what it had said to Cindy.  

She heard the Doctor take a deep breath and approach her, until finally she felt his presence over her.  He reached down into the casket and cupped her cheek with a shaky hand.  Rose wanted to weep with the gentleness and fear in that single touch, but instead she remained as still as stone.  Part of her was actually curious about what he thought of her, and she would do anything to hear it, even if it had to be this way.

She just wished it didn’t have to be this way.  

“Do I have to do this?” He asked on a broken whisper, and Rose felt her heart break for him.  She didn’t want him to feel like this, not when she could prevent it.

“It is part of the program,” IQ replied coldly.  Of course, there was no other way for a computer to talk, but it was enough to make Rose upset.  

The Doctor’s thumb brushed over her cheek and she held her breath so her chest wouldn’t move.  She was  bit afraid of getting in trouble with the elusive therapists.  Who knew where they were watching from.

“Oh, Rose,” he said softly, hand still resting softly on her cheek.

“You must deliver a eulogy for your partner,” IQ reminded him.

“Right, of course,” the Doctor cleared his throat and released Rose. She heard him walk to the podium that was set up and he took a shuddering breath.  “Um.  Not enough of you knew Rose Tyler for long enough.  If you did, you’d all want to be her partner.  She is- and I will  _ never  _ refer to Rose as if she’s gone, even-” he choked a little, “Even when she is.  She’s kind, and compassionate, and sometimes that gets her in trouble, but she always does the right thing in the end.  And sometimes that right thing is making friends, like she has done with so many people, even some of you.”

He paused and took a deep breath. “I don’t give her enough credit,” he said softly.  “For how brilliant she is.  Because she really is.  We travel, all over, and she- has-”  He turned. “I can’t do this.”

“Go on,” IQ said, “This is therapeutic.”

“No, I don’t want to talk about her like she’s gone, like she’s  _ dead.” _

“But someday you will, Doctor.  It is important you address what she means to you now, before it’s too late.”

The Doctor made an odd choking sound that sounded like the beginnings of a sob. “I can’t,” he whispered, and dashed from the room.

Rose, not caring what everyone else thought of her or what kind of trouble she’d be in for doing it, stumbled out of the coffin and followed the Doctor’s back.  IQ didn’t call after them and Rose realized that her response to his running out was probably and acceptable one.  She had to lift the skirts in one clenched fist to keep up with him, and when she did, reached out and grabbed the back of his jacket.  

“Doctor.”

He turned around and gathered her into his arms without hesitation.  She caught glimpses of tear tracks down his cheeks, and his shoulders shook softly, but he was not ruled by his sobs.  He twisted his hands into the back of her dress and clung to her as though she would melt away beneath him and drift into the sky.  She realized with a pang that he might be thinking exactly that.  She hung onto his shoulders, whispering what she hoped were soft reassurances into his ear.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I’m sorry, I was just doing as I was told, and I shouldn’t have, i’m  _ sorry.” _

“No,” The Doctor shook his head against her shoulder.  “We agreed to do this.  Just let me hold onto you for a moment longer.”

They held onto each other and she fell with him when his knees gave out beneath him, her dress pooling out around them.  She ended up holding his head against her chest so he could listen to her heartbeat as he calmed.  She’d never seen him like this, and she felt a little guilty for it.  It was her fault, really, she should’ve stopped all of this, should’ve stuck up for him the way he would have for her if she had been uncomfortable with something.

“M’sorry, Doctor, I should’ve told them it would be too much,” Rose said finally, when the Doctor had grown quiet against her.

“It’s alright,” he said, sitting back to look at her.  He wiped off his face and smiled at her, a fake smile, but a smile.  “I just don’t like the thought of being without you.  You should be flattered!  Come on, now.”  He got up and tugged her to her feet.  “Let’s go back in.”

She stopped him with her hands on his shoulders.  “Hey,” She shook her head, “Don’t do that.”

“What?”

She cupped his cheeks, searching his eyes.  “Shut me out,” she whispered.  “Please don’t.”  
He lowered his eyes and she took the opportunity to tug him down and kiss his forehead.  When she pulled back, he took her hand from his cheek and held it in his, leading her back to the room where everyone else was. 

“I hope that this exercise has helped the two of you realize how valuable your relationship is,” IQ said, and Rose looked at the Doctor, whose jaw was set.  Her heart sank.  His walls had gone up again.  She was going to be hard pressed to get them down for the rest of the time they were here.  

She didn’t even notice how the other couples did, she was so focused on the Doctor’s hand in hers as they watched the other funerals. Rose leaned her head against the Doctor’s shoulder, hoping he would take it as yet another apology.  He pressed a kiss to her hair and she thought that she might be forgiven.

He was quiet all night, and when he went upstairs to their room, she didn’t follow.  This was probably properly traumatic for him. She all but buried her face in the cup of tea he had made for her before going. 

“Is he alright?” Violet asked Rose as everyone else sat around, unwinding from the fake funerals.  

Rose shook her head. “I dunno,” She whispered.  “I feel like he doesn’t want to see me.”

Violet smiled softly.  “Rose, I think that this moment, right now, is exactly the moment he wants to see you.”

Though not fully convinced, Rose realized she should probably at least check on the Doctor and make sure that he didn’t want her around before she assumed so.  Draining her cup, she set it on the counter and headed up to their room. She tapped on the door twice. “Doctor?”

“Come in, Rose.”

He was sitting on the bed, legs splayed out in front of him, reading a book.  “You don’t have to knock, you know, it’s our room.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know, I just- didn’t know if you’d want to see me or not.”

He frowned.  “Why wouldn’t I want to see you?”

“You just holed yourself up here by yourself- which is fine!  But I just felt-”

“What?”

“Guilty.”

He frowned, but not really at her.  “You look exhausted.”

“Bedtime,” She agreed, heading to grab her pajamas and change.  She knew the Doctor well enough to know that he might be after a cuddle by saying she was tired, but perhaps didn’t want to ask her.  They cuddled sometimes on the TARDIS.  It wasn’t weird at all.

He was in a t-shirt and pajamas pants when she came back, as though he was perfectly prepared for that cuddle. 

“I’m sorry,” She said again as she crawled into bed with him.  He reached over and took her hand, looking it over, committing it to memory.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he whispered to her.  “None of this was your fault.  It was an assignment that you couldn’t possibly control.  You did what you were told to do, and you don’t do that very often, so I consider it a win.”

She wanted to laugh, but her lower lip trembled instead.  “But- with everything that happened to you, with Gallifrey-”

“You’re here,” he said firmly, “I don’t want to think about what it would be like if you weren’t.”

That was enough words, Rose decided, and shuffled forward to curl into his chest.  He wrapped his arms around her and let out a little stifled sigh of relief.  He pressed his temple to hers and she felt the whirring of his thoughts beneath the surface.  She found she liked the feel of it and pressed closer to him.  He pulled back from her with a jerk. 

“Sorry,” She whispered.

“No, my fault,” he said softly, “Was projecting, sorry.  Won’t happen again.”

She wished it would. She wished he would be honest with her.  She wished for  _ so many things  _ that he would never do, never say.

She wished with every bone in her body that he would kiss her properly. 

Instead, his hands just clutched at her shirt, as he was clearly still affected by what had happened, and they drifted to sleep, Rose with her heart heavier than it had ever been before. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING FOR DISCUSSIONS OF SEX!!!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose was restless all night, and she had a feeling the Doctor was to blame.  He was having nightmares, she could tell.  Sweat would bead on his brow and his face would screw up, but sound didn’t really come from him.  When she noticed that he started to tense, she ran her fingers through his hair, making sure to keep as much contact with him as possible.  That seemed to soothe him, at least briefly.  She wrapped her arms around him and held him close when he settled, trying to keep him from getting aggravated again.  

At one point, late into the night, he woke up, his eyes bleary but wild.  “Rose?”

“I’m here,” She whispered, stroking her fingers over his cheek.  “Not going anywhere.”

He rolled closer to her, still clearly half asleep, and rested his head on her chest, ear pressed up against her heart and arms wrapped snugly around her waist. Though she was startled, she let him, and continued to sift her fingers through his hair, hoping to keep him calm. 

“Can I stay here?” he asked softly, voice thick with impending sleep.

“Of course you can,” She whispered back.  

He had no more nightmares after that, and Rose wanted to be flattered, but instead it just made her heart break for him even more.

They woke up the next morning in the same position, though the Doctor didn’t bring up how he’d got there. Rose had had a feeling he wouldn’t. 

“Any more leads?” She whispered when he woke, so the cameras wouldn’t hear them.

He shook his head against her chest before moving to lay face to face with her.  “Not as such,” he whispered back.  He reached out and traced the cupid’s bow of her lip.  “Need to make it look like pillow talk,” he whispered, face close to hers.

She nodded, happy his head wasn’t still on her chest, or he would’ve heard her heart pounding wildly.  

“So who do you think it is?  And what do you think they’re doing?” Rose asked underneath his fingertips. He was trailing them up towards her hairline and her eyes fell shut before she could even hear his reply.

“Dunno,” He admitted. “I can’t even find anything suspicious, and you know me.  I’ve been trying.”

“Hm.”

“Are you still tired?” He asked when it became apparent that his gentle stroking was lulling her back to sleep.

“Yeah,” she whispered, “Didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, and she could picture the absolutely forlorn look that was probably on his face.

She smiled a little but kept her eyes closed, reaching forward to pat his chest.  “S’okay, I was happy to keep the nightmares away from you.”

He sighed. “You shouldn’t have to, though, and you need more sleep than I do.” He sounded so upset that she opened her eyes again.  

“Hey.  Stop.”  She shook her head. “That’s what we do, you and me, we look out for each other, and I don’t want you to feel bad about it.  Just let me sleep for an interrupted hour and then we’ll go downstairs and have breakfast.”

“Alright,” He said, and she let her eyes slip closed again, his fingers still trailing over her skin and hair.  She fell asleep to his gentle touches and fell into a sleep that was far more satisfying than the rest of the night had been. 

When she woke again he was no longer in bed with her, and though she was a little disappointed by it, she didn’t know why she should have expected anything else.  They’d been too close over the past twelve hours, and this was him running away.  She could hear the shower running, and sighed softly, realizing a shower sounded like a very good idea.

They didn’t really talk as the two of them got ready for the day.  Rose pulled her hair into a ponytail, just wanting to look a little bit different, though she wasn’t sure why.  She always wanted to impress the Doctor, and sometimes she thought she might have achieved that, but other times it was like he looked right through her.  She put earrings in and put her makeup on before looking at herself in the mirror.  She’d never catch the Time Lord’s attention, and it would do her well to stop trying.

When they went downstairs, everyone else was already awake and serving breakfast.  Violet waved Rose over and she broke away from the Doctor to say hello to her friend.  He watched her, but she didn’t notice, already pulled back from him.  She figured he wanted his space, after all. 

“How was he, after yesterday?” Violet asked softly.

“Okay,” Rose nodded.  “He was alright.  He needed a good cuddle, that’s all.”  She looked to Violet and cringed a little.  “You think they’re gonna make us do anything else like that?”

Violet blew out her cheeks. “I couldn't tell you, dear.  I sure hope not.”

Cindy and Ronald sat a little closer together at breakfast and spoke more than two words to each other. The quiet couple even spoke a little, though not with anyone but each other.   

The Doctor didn’t really speak to Rose through breakfast, but he did keep glancing at her.  She tried to let him have his space, but he was making it difficult when he kept looking at her and shifting in his seat.  

“All couples please report to the living area.”

They did, all still chatting amiably with one another, and they took what now seemed to be their assigned seats in the room.  The Doctor reached over and took Rose’s hand.  She let him, though her fingers curled around his a little more loosely then they had in the past. She didn’t want him to think she was clinging, and she didn’t want him to be annoyed by her.  Just because he needed to hold her last night didn’t mean that he needed to hold her now.  

IQ rolled out in front of them and said, quite firmly for a robot/computer/therapist, “We’re going to be talking about sex today.”

The Doctor released Rose’s hand.

“I’m sorry,  _ what?”  _ Cindy screeched, her face turning sheet white.

“It is important that you discuss with your partner what you expect from a sexual relationship.  First, you will be paired with another couple and discuss together. You will be given a list of questions to answer.”

Violet reached over and grabbed Rose’s arm so fast that she jolted. 

“Alright, we’ve picked teams, just give us the questions,” Violet said, her face scarlet.  Rose had a feeling her face was so red it might actually explode.  This was so embarrassing, she didn’t even know  _ if  _ the Doctor had the proper equipment to be having this discussion.

“Very well,” IQ said, “Please pick up a sheet of paper from that coffee table and find a place private to ask each other the questions.  It might be uncomfortable, but it will be better to talk in a group so that you won’t feel too pressured.”

Everyone picked up a paper, and as Cindy grumbled about being paired with the mute couple, and Violet, Lin, Rose, and the Doctor all stood and relocated to another one of the living areas, which was smaller cozier.  A little too cozy, Rose thought.  It had a loveseat and two chairs.  Rose and the Doctor took the two chairs and Lin and Violet took the loveseat. 

“So, guess we should get started,” Lin said, rubbing his palms on his trousers.  This is… Very uncomfortable.”

“You have no idea,” the Doctor said softly.  

“First question, then,” Violet said, and everyone else read along on the papers they’d taken so they didn’t have to look at each other. “What one thing turns you on that your partner doesn’t know about?”

Rose flushed from her head to her toes.  “Oh, God,” She rubbed her hands over her face.

“Um, so I suppose we should answer,” Lin said, sliding down in his seat. Violet looked over at him. “I can go first.”

“Well, mine is biting, but I know you won’t do that,” Violet said.

“Who said?” Lin demanded.  “Mine’s when you wear stockings.  You won’t do that.”

She frowned.  “I could.”

“Okay. Sorted,” Lin smiled, relieved.  “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”  
Rose stared at her hands.  “Neck kisses,” She whispered, so bloody embarrassed that she thought she might crawl under the floorboards.”  

“Really?” The Doctor asked, and she could tell he was pretending to be interested so that they didn’t look suspicious.  She nodded, not looking back at him.  

The Doctor shifted around.  “Um, I suppose.  I think-suppose- um.  Well, I don’t know.  I haven’t thought about it in a few centuries.”

Lin and Violet laughed a little, but since Rose knew he was probably dead serious about it.  He moved around some more and then said softly, “I suppose… Being undressed? Not simply the act of it but passion behind it.”

“Like you can’t wait another moment?” Rose said, finally turning to look at him. He looked back to her and nodded.  

“Next question: what would you be amiable to trying in the bedroom? Please specify something new that you have not done before,” Lin read the next question.

“Why do we have to do this in a group?” Rose asked, flushing hotly.  “I’m so embarrassed.”

“Just think of it clinically,” The Doctor suggested.  That almost made her feel worse, though she didn’t want it to.  This was just undercover work. That was all.  Nothing about this was real, so no matter how much real information she divulged, it wouldn’t matter because he was probably lying because the Doctor  _ had  _ to be asexual, the way he touched and talked and flirted.  Only one sort of man would be that oblivious.

Violet looked to her husband.  “We talked about bondage once before.  Would that be alright?”

Lin nodded.  “If it’s something you want to do, I would be willing to try it.”

“But we had a fight about it last time,” she said, “And I don’t want to fight anymore. I really don’t.”

“Well, we’ll try it, and if we don’t like it, we stop.”

The Doctor looked to Rose. “And what about you?” 

She was so close to lighting on fire, and not in a good way.  “I dunno.”

“Sure you do.”

“No, I really don’t,” She said, “I don’t have a lot of experience with this kind of thing.  I really don’t know.  I’m only twenty two, Doctor, and I’m not- I never thought about  _ experimenting.” _

The Doctor scratched his cheek.  “Well, I have something.  Maybe it’s not a  _ kink  _ per say, but… Making a whole evening of it.  Not just a quick roll in the hay, you know? Something that means something.”

She stared at him.  How was he doing this?  

They were called into the living room with IQ again and she gave them papers to read in couples.  

“Now that you’ve warmed up, discuss these questions with your partner for thirty minutes and come back here.  We will discuss the application and the importance of these discussions.”

Rose and the Doctor split off from everyone else and sat in a garden that Rose didn’t know was there. The Doctor had a knack for exploring no matter where they were.

“There’s cameras on us,” Rose said, “People are watching.”

“No different than  _ The Weakest Link,”  _ The Doctor said cheerfully.

“It’s actually very different,” She said.  “We don’t have to talk about this, we could just… Talk about something else.”

The Doctor shrugged. “Might be interesting,” he said. “Might be fun.  Here, look, I’ll read the first question and then we’ll decide, how does that sound?”

“Okay,” Rose whispered, slumping in the lawn chair.  She’d never even  _ kissed  _ the Doctor and she was supposed to talk to him like they were shagging?  How was she even going to manage.  He picked up the first card.  

“What was your first time like?  Discuss.”

Rose put her face in her hands. “Oh, God,” She moaned.

“Precisely,” The Doctor said awkwardly.

This was going to be a  _ long  _ afternoon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes I am ending the chapter right there, but they *will* be having a conversation about it! I just split this into two chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this story might end up being Mature rated. I'm not sure yet. This is still very heavy teen but you know, the muse is the muse.
> 
> Enjoy!

“It’s okay,” The Doctor said, watching her carefully. “We can do this,” he nodded, trying to convince himself.  “I could go first, if you’d like.”

“No, let me go first, I gotta get this out of the way.”  She pulled her hands down her face. “It was terrible.”

He winced. “Jimmy Stone,” he stated.

“Um.  Yeah.  How’d you know?” She still couldn’t look at him, though she could feel that he was looking at her.  Why was he looking at her? Wasn’t he just as embarrassed as she was?  She felt like she was going to explode with embarrassment.

“You told me about him, I assumed,” he said.  “And then when you said it was terrible- well.”

She wriggled a little.  “Um.  Well, listen, it was bad for a lot of reasons, but he just didn’t care about me.  He just wanted… Well he wanted.”    

“I’m sorry,” The Doctor said softly.  “I’m sorry he did that.”

“No, he didn’t-” Rose shook her head. “I wanted to impress him, you know?  He was older, and I thought he’d leave me if it wasn’t any good, and… Well, it was good for him, just not for me.”

The Doctor frowned.  “That’s not an excuse, you know.  Him being older.” he was looking at her earnestly and she allowed herself to make eye contact with him.  He looked so worried, like she might think that that was all intimacy was: being used for the benefit of the male participant.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” She whispered, “Never thought I’d even tell you.  Tell me yours?”

He cringed. “My people were mostly loomed, not natural born, so I didn’t… Do things the way humans did.  Not to say we couldn’t or didn’t, it was just frowned upon.  I’ve only had two or three partners over the course of my life, and the first time was… Not good.”

“I don’t think it ever is,” Rose said, “Every one of my mates that told me about theirs, you know, they all said it was bad.  Maybe it’s always bad?”

“I should think so, at this point,” He said, “Well, I was young, running from the Academy, from everyone I knew.  Just wanted to escape it all, I think.  And I did, I met a girl in a bar, and I don’t think I even liked her.”

Rose squirmed, uncomfortable with the idea of someone else having the Doctor, getting to be with him in a way that she never would.  “Um.  Next question, please. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

The Doctor’s eyes searched hers, like she was trying to find out what was actually going on, but she was getting good at making sure he couldn't read her. Otherwise he would’ve known the truth ten times over by now, and she couldn't have that.  So she just watched him and waited for him to read the next question.

“Alright,” he said slowly, turning his gaze to the next card.  “What, if anything, is off limits?”  
“Don’t tie me up,” Rose said instantly, forgetting who she was talking to, only knowing that the truth on that matter was coming out. 

The Doctor’s worried look got even more worried and she wanted to smack him for doing so.  He acted like she was something he could fix.  She didn’t want to talk about it, she just wanted to finish everything, be done with this and get back on the TARDIS.  Then they could pretend there was nothing going on between them, he could go back to being distant, and she could go back to pining from afar.  That was what they were good at, and they could just go back to it. 

“And you?” She asked impatiently.

“I’ve never really thought about it, but I think that might go for me as well,” He said, running a hand through his hair.

“Can we be done?” She whispered.  She hated talking about this, especially with him. It was humiliating in a way she didn’t think that he would ever understand and she didn’t want to have to explain it.  It was too much, and it was making her feel too warm and upset.  

He reached out and touched her hand. “Are you okay?”

“No, I want to be done,” she said.  “I’m sorry.”

“Do you need a hug?”  
She laughed a little.  Of course he thought that would fix everything. “No,” She said, “No, it’s probably best if you don’t touch me right now.  How many more questions are left?”

“Four.”

She rubbed her hands over her face. “Okay.”

“Rose, we can stop.  Sod the cameras, I’m more worried about you.”

“No, we signed up for this,” She shook her head.  “I can do it.  I’m sorry, I was just being dramatic.”

They answered the questions, which they answered vaguely since the Doctor now knew she was uncomfortable. Two of the four questions he answered with, “Oh, you know, dear.”

When they were finished, they walked back to the living area, where IQ was sitting, apparently monitoring the room to see who was back in the room.  Cindy and Ronald were back, now holding hands, and Rose wondered if there might be hope for them after all.  The Doctor sat next to her on another couch, but not too close. She had a feeling he was probably just as uncomfortable as she, and better at hiding it.  

Nobody made eye contact or said anything to each other, which was really for the best. The other two couples shuffled back in, all sitting closer than they had been originally. Rose kind of wondered  _ what  _ had happened to make them all so cuddly in front of everyone.  Rose, not for the first time, wished that things were different between her and the Doctor.  This was too much, this imagining that things  _ were  _ what she wanted, that she could hold him whenever she wanted, tell him exactly how she felt. 

But she couldn’t.  

Once everyone was back in the room, IQ spoke up.  “Now that you’ve all come back, you’ll find a romantic, private dinner in your rooms.  The therapists encourage you to discuss what you’ve talked about tonight further, maybe try out some of the things you discussed.  Go on and stay the night together on a date, in private. I will not see any of you until tomorrow morning.”

Violet reached over and squeezed her hand.  “Good luck,” She whispered. 

“You too,” She said, forcing a smile.  She didn’t know what to say besides that, so she followed the Doctor up to their room without a word.

There was a table set up in their room with two plates filled with steak and blue mashed potatoes.  A bottle of wine was set up as well, and Rose felt her mouth water.  It looked  _ amazing.   _

“Can we talk on the balcony for a moment?” The Doctor asked tersely.

“Sure,” Rose said, following him out.  She shut the sliding door behind them, and looked over at him. “What?” She asked, “What’s wrong?”

He turned around, his eyes looking terribly sad.  “I’m so sorry,” he said softly, “I didn’t realize that we would be asked that kind of question, I didn’t know that there was- I didn’t even think.”

She shook her head. “Not your fault, Doctor.  But you know, it’s couples therapy, of course they’re going to ask questions like that.”

“I know,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t even think anything of it. I should have.”

She shifted from foot to foot, not wanting to look at him, but needing to.  “So what are we going to do?  They’re going to monitor us tonight.”

He winced. “I know.  We could say that we know there are cameras and we don’t feel comfortable doing… Anything on camera.”

Rose blew out her cheeks. “I guess so,” She said, “They’ll get suspicious though, don’t you think they’ll start to think about kicking us out? If we don’t follow the rules.”

He blew out a sigh, nodding.  “Yeah, I guess that’s a concern.  Let’s just go eat something and figure it out.”

They ate mostly in silence, with the Doctor explaining why the wine tasted so different.  They ended up drinking the whole thing, and though Rose was feeling a little buzzed, she definitely wasn’t tipsy or drunk.  

The Doctor started looking at her funny. “So did you- did it get any better, after Jimmy?”

Rose shrugged a little. “Dunno,” She said softly, “Didn’t really do it much after that, unless he wanted it.  It didn’t do anything for me.”

He frowned. “That’s not okay,” he said.  

She smiled, “I’m fine.  It wasn’t non consensual, I always said yes.  I thought maybe I was just bad at it and that’s why I didn’t like it.  It doesn’t matter, Doctor, that’s not who I am anymore.”

“But you’ve never been-” he cut himself off

“What?” She asked, leaning forward.

“Worshipped.”

She grinned, taking a sip of the glass of water she’d filled to counteract the wine. “No, I suppose I haven’t.”

He blinked.  “I’m very sorry to hear that.”

Something came over her, something that made her feel so fuzzy and warm.  She smiled softly at him.  “Wonder what it’s like.”

His eyes turned suddenly dark, and his gaze shot down to her lips.  “I’m sure you do.” 

A light strain of music started floating through the room, and Rose remembered briefly that there were people watching them.  The thought was bleary though, like she was half asleep, and she got to her feet. “Dance with me,” She said to the Doctor.  He got to his feet, looking down at her.  After a moment of hesitation he took her about the waist and tugged her against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck.  

“What song is this, Doctor?” She asked, moving closer to him.

He swallowed hard. “Sonata 2.8 by Kryptonon musician, Lyle.”

“What? Lyle?  Are you serious?”

He smiled, leaning towards her. “Yeah, I know, not a very creative name, is it?”

Their noses brushed, and Rose found her hand winding up through his hair. “Doctor,” she whispered. 

“Mm.”

“Are you upset?  About today?”

“I’m only upset that you haven’t been treated correctly in the past,” he said, pulling on her again so her hips pressed against his.  

She brushed her lips against his jaw and moved her mouth close to his ear. “And what are you going to do about it, Doctor?”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Don’t,” She demanded, right up against his ear. “Don’t pull away from me.  Don’t ask me what I think. Answer me.”

He shuddered, and she started to wonder what they were doing. They’d never been quite so close, never touched quite so much.  She started to wonder  _ what  _ was happening to them.  This didn’t seem right.  Well, it did, but all the wrong kinds of right. Right where the Doctor’s hand was resting just below the small of her back, right where her hands were in his hair and his breath was against her neck. Right in that he might kiss her, if she kept this up.

Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, and she leaned up to bite his earlobe.  He made an odd, choked little gasp and tugged her against him.  

“Rose.”

“What?”  
“Rose, _stop.”_ _  
_ Red alerts went off in her head and she pushed him away, hard, not noticing the dazed, sloppy look in his eyes.  It felt like cold ice water had been poured over her, and she was shaking.  She looked at her hands. 

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s alright, it’s a aphrodisiac, we weren’t moving quickly enough for them.”  His gaze didn’t move from her, and all she wanted to do was throw herself back at him, snog him within an inch of his life, maybe push him down onto the bed. 

“What do we do?” She whispered.

“I think I should go sit in the bathroom for awhile, see if I can’t clear this out of my head, see if I can figure something out for you,” he said, looking like he was fighting to form coherent sentences. 

She felt tears well up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He approached her with careful steps and cupped her cheeks in his hands. “Not your fault,” he whispered, and leaned down to press the most gentle kiss to her lips. It was barely a touch, barely a caress, and he disappeared into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind them.  

Rose crawled into the bed, still in her clothes,and tried to fight her desire for him, hoping to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was on Wattpad I was dubbed "Queen of the Cliffhangers" and I think I might be unintentionally earning back my title. SO sorry!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... Rating change? I've never written anything like this and the act itself is still a little vague cause this is as far as I could go. I hope that's okay!! Now, seeing as this is the most explicit thing I've ever written, I'm going to go into hiding. Enjoy!

As it turned out, Rose couldn’t fall asleep.  She was wired, still aching, and she was hyper attuned to the Doctor in the en suite.  He was just breathing heavily, not doing anything, and Rose knew he wasn’t doing anything.  He was just  _ sitting.   _ She could feel it.  She tucked her hands into her sides and tried to settle in, but it was impossible. Whatever drug she had been given was making her hyperaware.

After about ten minutes he exited the bathroom, tie loosened and hair rumpled.  She sat up in bed, looking at him, waiting for him to say something.  He just stared at her for a few moments, blinking. 

“Are you alright?” he asked her after a moment.

She nodded, slowly.  “I think so.  It’s just- I can’t think, I can’t do anything.”

“Um,” he shifted from foot to foot. “Step out on the balcony with me, love?”  

She knew it was forced, that he wa just saying it for the cameras, but a full body shudder ran through her at the word. She got out of the bed, still shaking, and followed him to balcony.  He shut the door behind them and sat down, clasping his hands tightly together. 

“It’s not really an aphrodisiac,” he said, rubbing his forehead. “Well, it is, but it isn’t.  It’s a chemical, designed to draw out intense emotion that is closest to the forefront of the person’s mind.  For you and I, that was-”

“Sex?” Rose blurted out, sitting on her hands.  

He shifted. “Sort of.  More like deep emotional connection.”

She let the cool night air wash over her, not knowing what to say.  She was, for one, humiliated.  Of  _ course  _ she wanted a deep emotional connection with the Doctor.  She loved him, for God’s sake, but he  _ wasn’t supposed to know that. _

“What do we do?” She asked.

“We fight it, and go to sleep,” he said, “Just thought you should know what it really is, you know?”  He offered her a tiny smile. “I’d hug you but I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

Her heart sank.  He was probably going to view her as some mating-crazed animal.  Which, she supposed, she was.  She wanted to be near him, wanted to be  _ on  _ him, if she was perfectly honest.  She looked over to him.  “I don’t know if I can,” She said softly.  “It’s really strong.”

“Is the fresh air not helping?” He asked worriedly.

She bit her lip and shook her head, not able to look at him anymore.  She pressed her thighs down into her hands so that she wouldn’t reach out and grab him.  She took a deep, shuddering sigh.  “No, it’s not helping,” she said.

“I had hoped it would,” he said softly, almost murmured it to himself.  He reached over and touched her arm and she flinched away from him.  He looked so hurt by her reaction that she felt she should apologize, or kiss it better, or something.  

“M’sorry,” She said, “I’m just real sensitive to your touch right now.”

“I can sleep out here.”

“That’ll make em more suspicious, Doctor,” Rose said, visibly annoyed with him.  “So I’m really sorry, but you’ll have to share the bed with me.  I know that’s not going to be pleasant for you, but it’s going to be difficult for me, too!”

He blinked, as he honestly couldn’t remember the last time that she had yelled at him, or even raised her voice.  She slumped when she saw his reaction. She stood up.   “I’m gonna go back inside.  I can’t- I can’t look at you.”

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

She froze.  “What?”

“I’m sorry.  It’s all my fault we’re in this, I wanted to do this.  What if there’s not even anything suspicious here?”

“You’re usually right about this kind of thing, Doctor.  Just give me five minutes to get into my pjs and then you can come in.”

Her skin was completely over sensitised, and the air in the room made it worse.  She walked shakily over to the drawers, and the simple act of changing into her pajamas almost made her explode.  She had just finished buttoning up her top when the Doctor came in.  He inhaled deeply through his nose and shut the glass door behind himself. 

“Hello,” She said softly, “Sorry for yelling at you.”

“It’s okay.” He stepped towards her.  “How are you feeling?”  
“It’s only been a few minutes, Doctor.  Not great.”  

He nodded, dark eyes eating her alive.  She felt like she was going to burst into flames if she didn’t do something to touch him.  She curled her hands into fists, fingernails biting into her skin.  Her heart pounded in her chest and she realized that neither of them were breaking eye contact, they were just  _ staring  _ at each other, and that couldn’t be healthy, but she couldn’t stop looking at him.

“Rose,” his voice was low, almost a growl.  He stepped forward and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her up against him. “M’sorry.”

She trailed her hands up his arms, resting them on his shoulders. “They amped it up, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” he said, breathless. 

“I-I thought so,” She tipped her head forward, pressing it against his chest. “God, Doctor, I’m just so, so…  _ Hot.” _

“Yes,” he hissed, hands curling into the back of her pajamas shirt, making the buttons on the front start to stretch and strain from the pull.  She felt delirious at his touch.  She ran her fingers into his hair, tugging it lightly until he groaned.  

“Doctor, please, it  _ hurts.” _

That seemed to be enough to set the Doctor loose, turning him into a near wild animal.  He moved one hand to grab her by the back of the hair, tugging her away from his chest so he could lean down and kiss her.  This was no mere press of the lips, not the gentle caress that he’d given her just minutes before.

God, had it really just been minutes?  It felt like hours ago, the way time had slowed around them, the way it had burned for those few minutes.  

Now, he was kissing her with the ardor she had always dreamed of in her mind, his lips moving urgently over hers.  She opened her mouth, letting him in, and smiled when he moved his hand back from her hair to wrap around her shoulders instead. 

“Didn’t mean to pull your hair,” he gasped against her lips.

“S’okay, I don’t mind.”

He kissed her again and started pushing her back towards the bed.  It took a bit of stumbling and fumbling, but soon enough her legs hit the bed and she was forced to a sitting position.

His eyes were completely black and she inhaled sharply when she saw them. He wrenched his tie from his neck and got to his knees before her. He took her hand in his and kissed her palm gently, looking up at her as he did so.  He continued the kisses up her arm, urging her to lay back as he got closer to her shoulder.  She scooted back so her head was nearer the pillows and he moved back to her mouth to kiss her again.  She framed his face in her hands, letting him guide the kiss, but needing to hold onto him somehow. 

Her mind was too hazy to worry about why this was happening. She could only focus on the fact that  _ it was happening.  _ His free hand smoothed up and down her side, slipping it under her shirt and onto her bare skin. 

“Oh, Rose,” he groaned, moving from her mouth and kissing along her cheek to her neck.  Rose gasped and held onto him, moving her knees so he had more room to get closer to her.  He grabbed the back of her knee, lifting off her entirely to pull one of her legs around him and then to fall back over her.  She pulled her arms back and unbuttoned his shirt, needing more of his skin against hers.  He aided her as best he could with his mouth attached to her neck, and once his button up was off she was frustrated to see that he had  _ another  _ bloody layer.  She grabbed at his henley.

“Off,” She rasped against his ear.

“A bit uneven, don’t you think?” He asked, pulling back and wrenching her pajama top open.  She opened her mouth, surprised he was so violent about it.  He smiled a little sheepishly at her.  “Sorry,” he said, “Just- oops.”

She laughed, and he settled a hand on her back to help her sit up so she could shake off the shirt.  Once it was off he was on her again, his kisses gentle but deep, and she tried to press her thighs together but his hips were in the way, so really she just dragged her on top of him.  He let out a little muffled groan.  

The kissing and tasting went on for what felt like forever, as they were so tightly wound around each other that neither of them wanted to move to go any further because they would have to let go of the other person. 

She had always expected that if something liked this happened, the Doctor would be possessive, violent even. She was surprised to find that the ripping of her shirt buttons was as far as his aggressiveness went.  He treated her like glass, his hands coasting gently over her, mouth moving over her with new found purpose, like he could do this for hours.  Rose realized he probably could.

He kissed to her chest as she sifted her hands through his hair over and over and he pushed into her touch.  

“Rose, Rose, Rose,” he chanted her name again and again against her skin, hips moving restlessly against her.  She locked her ankles above the small of his back, the leather of his belt against her heels reminding her that he still had trousers on.

“Doctor, roll over,” She coaxed, her voice coming out breathy, “Your turn.”

He groaned and shook his head, raising his face over hers.  He brought up a hand and trailed it over her cheek. “Gonna worship you,” he said, growing less and less coherent as the moments went on. “You’ve never been worshipped before.”

She smiled, “And what about you?”

“I want to make you happy,” he said, nudging her nose with his. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.” 

“Then get to it, Time Lord.”

Gentle hands coasted her body, a questing tongue entering her mouth.  He let her touch him but never let her take it too far. He always brought all the attention right back to her.  

His movements were languid and his breath hot against her cheek.  He started to whisper against her neck as she bit his shoulder. 

“Ma Arkytior .  Arkytior-” he murmured that phrase over and over into her skin, biting and nibbling as he went. 

“Doctor, what’s that mean?” She asked, tugging at his belt. 

“Means- ah, keepdoingthat,” he kissed her soundly again.  “It’s Gallifreyan, means ‘My Rose’.

While he was distracted, she twisted her hips and sat astride him, looking down at his surprised face.  Something took over her, something that she didn’t even know she had in her.  They fought for who got to be on top, fought for who got to kiss who were, until he was settled over her, eyes meeting hers.  

She felt something touch her mind and she tried to open up, as she would when the TARDIS wanted to talk to her telepathically.  The Doctor gasped and his eyes slammed shut as he rutted against her. 

“S-sorry.”

“Don’t be, that’s brilliant,” he said, and she felt a blue essence overwhelm her mind, twining with hers as he got even closer.

_ Closer, closer, closer. _

She wrapped her arms around him and they were as close as two people could be. His forehead was pressed against hers and he was murmuring her name in Gallifreyan and in English over and over, his eyes squeezed shut.  She responded by pushing her emotions towards him, wanting him to see what he did to her, what he was doing to her.  He seemed almost out of his body with how restless he was becoming. Sweat beaded on his forehead, which she had never seen before, and he moved, tucking his face into her neck to be even closer to her.  

He moved between her legs with such purpose that she knew it wasn’t just for her.  She leaned up and bit her ear, just needing to do something as monumental as he was doing to her.  She felt his essence coming through her still, biting her all over, pushing into her, wrapping around her mind.  

This was the most intense thing she had ever felt for sure.  She scraped her nails up his back, and he shouted out loud and in her mind.  It was intoxicating, to know she had this power over him. She’d never known, had thought she was just some human, but the way he was chanting her name and grabbing at the back of her knee to bring her closer. 

Her vision whited out when he did that, making her throw her head back against the pillows and gasp, almost choking with the force of it.  Her eyes fluttered shut and she just focused on how he felt against her, within her.  She almost felt like she was out of her body, and he seemed to be just as affected. 

The build in her mind and in her body made her grasp at him closer, grab at his hair and bite his neck. She could tell she was leaving a mark on him.  He pressed closer to her, pushing his neck against her mouth.  She bit at his neck until it was purple and angry, and she laved over the spot with her tongue until he was sighing repeatedly over her.  He lifted away from her and kissed her mouth, opening his mouth over hers immediately. 

“Rose,” he grunted, eyes still closed. 

She bit his earlobe. “Doctor,  _ Doctor.   _ Keep going.”

After several minutes of murmuring and panting, she really did feel like she was going to blow up.

An explosion behind her eyes had her floating out of her body with him and she could hear herself crying out, though it didn’t seem like it was even coming from her.   When she came back to herself the Doctor was laying on top of her, panting heavily, breath creating a moist trail on her neck. 

She stroked her hand up and down his back, waiting for him to recover.  She smiled a little, pressing kisses to his temple so he wouldn't come out of this alone. 

A few minutes later he fell asleep, still half on top of her, and she moved him onto his back so she could adjust the blankets over them.  If she had to guess, she had a feeling he was exhausted from the little bit of telepathy.  She was exhausted from it too, and crawled over him, laying her head down on his chest.  He burrowed closer to her in his sleep, and with the blankets to their shoulders and a lightness in her heart, she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Peeks out from hiding* Fair warning, I'm not done with the angst, this is, however, a reprieve and an apology for all the UST


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO SORRY for leaving you all on such a chapter for so long. I might have a bit of a concussion so I have been dealing with that, but things should be fairly regular, as long as I keep my screen brightness low. 
> 
> ALSO thank you all SO MUCH for the love on the last chapter. I wanted to reply to comments but was blushing just thinking about it. But it DOES make me so happy that you guys liked it and you thought it was alright for my first time (pun intended).
> 
> enjoy!

 

Rose wondered if it was the telepathy, that made her wake up several times during the night. She was wired, wanted to roll the Doctor over and do him again, but he seemed to be completely out.  She didn’t want to wake him up when he looked so peaceful.  He was still touching her, his hands on her, legs tangled with hers.  Every time she woke up she smiled a little to herself and cuddled closer to him, letting herself fall back asleep.

She had let her guard down so far she didn’t even worry about what the consequences of the next morning would be.  So when she woke up alone, she was completely shocked.  She sat up in bed, clutching the sheet to her naked chest.  “Doctor?” She called, wondering if he was in the bathroom, just getting ready.  His suit was gone off the floor after all.  But when she got out of bed and padded around the room looking for him, only to find that he was nowhere in the room.  She frowned.  Why would he leave?

The thoughts plagued her as she took a shower, got ready, and examined herself in the mirror.  The ache she felt was more than physical satisfaction, but mental unrest.  Rose huffed to herself and went downstairs, feeling self conscious now that she wasn’t with the Doctor.  When she reached the bottom of the stairs he was chatting with Lin, but when he saw her he smiled a little.  It wasn’t what she’d expected.  She’d thought that he would bound up to her, or at least be happy, but he just… Smiled and looked back to Lin.  Rose forced back tears that didn’t make any sense.  He didn’t owe her anything just because they’d slept together.  She really had thought it was more than that, though.  

Cindy was chatting to Violet in the most animated fashion, and the quiet couple was missing, which made Rose suspicious enough that she decided to start looking for them. She slipped out the door to the gardens, peering around for them.  No sign of them.  Rose frowned. That was odd. They couldn’t possibly still be in bed. 

Rose turned to one of the cameras.  “The couple is missing,” She said to the camera.  

The voice of IQ came over the intercom, and said sharply, “Please return inside. All will be explained.”

Rose felt a chill shoot down to her bones.  She didn’t want to cause any trouble, though, so she simply chewed her bottom lip and headed back inside.  She shut the door behind her, and when she turned around, the Doctor’s eyes were on her.  She arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to say something.  He excused himself from his conversation with Lin and came over to her, his hands shoved in his pockets. 

“What’s outside?” He asked casually, rocking back on his heels.

She shrugged. “Not the couple. The ones we don’t know the names of.  They’re gone.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

She felt anger boiling to the surface. She didn’t want to talk about that. “So, why did I wake up alone?”

His face fell into a mask of indifference.  “Rose, let’s not talk about that now.”

“So we’ll never talk about it?” She asked, crossing her arms just to give her some leverage against him.  “That’s- We never talk about stuff like this.”

He frowned. “When have we ever done anything like this?”

“We’ve kissed three times, before last night,” She said, “Never talked about any of ‘em.  So why should now be any different?”

“Because we’ve… We  _ shagged,  _ Rose.”

“I know,” She whispered.  “But I can tell you regret it, and it- it hurts, Doctor.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ll explain it later, Rose, I promise, but not right now.  Okay?”  
She pressed her lips together, trying not to cry. She wouldn’t cry in front of him.  She was better than that.  “Okay,” She whispered, and slipped past him to make herself a cup of tea.

Violet had torn herself away from Cindy when she saw something was wrong with Rose and slid up next to her as Rose set the kettle on the stove. 

“Everything okay between the two of you?” Violet asked quietly.  “He looks on edge.”

Rose bit her lip. “I don’t know how to say it without sounding like a slag,” She said, pushing the kettle around on the fire, not knowing what else to do with her limbs.  It suddenly seemed like she had too many of them, actually.  Though that’s not at all how it had felt last night.  Wrapped around the Doctor- in every sense of the word- had been actual bliss, and something she knew she would never be able to replicate.

“Go on, then,” Violet nudged her, a worried mother bear expression in her eyes. “He’s your partner, you could hardly sound like a slag.”

Rose felt tears brimming and blinked them back. “We were… intimate, last night,” She whispered, not wanting Cindy to hear, “And he regrets it.”

Violet frowned. “What?”

“He said he’ll explain it to me later,” Rose said, trying to play it off as less than it was, like it didn’t absolutely crush her soul into a thousand pieces. “I don’t know what there could possibly be to explain. He doesn’t want… That, with me.  He’s made it obvious.”

“Then- I’m sorry, pardon me if I don’t understand.  Is he not physically attracted to you?”  
Rose shrugged lamely, not knowing what to say to either negate or agree with Violet’s statement.  The Doctor’s actions last night would certainly tell her that he wasn’t opposed to her physical appearance. She blushed at the memory, of his mouth tasting her skin in ways she’d only dreamed about.  

“I guess I don’t know anymore,” she said, “I woke up alone for the first time since we’ve been here.”

Violet drew her into a motherly embrace, and Rose caved, wrapping her arms around the woman’s midsection and squeezing her eyes shut.

“I hope you two find what you need here,” Violet said softly, “I know everyone in this house thinks that you’re perfect, but you might need the most help out of all of us.”

Rose nodded, pulling back. “Thanks,” she said, forcing a smile.  Violet looked at her worriedly, but didn’t say anything else, sensing that Rose might burst into tears if the conversation continued.

Rose was still nursing her cup of tea when IQ rolled out into the living room.  All the couples shuffled in, minus the quiet couple.  Rose looked around, still trying to locate the two.  They didn’t sleep in, Rose was fairly certain of that, so when they didn’t show up by the time IQ started talking, she was suspicious.  The Doctor was sat next to her, a little stiff but otherwise unbothered by whatever was currently going on between them.  She almost wished they would have a fight, complete with screaming, but the Doctor had always been too gentle with her to shout at her, because she’d once heard him say that he hated seeing her cry.  He especially hated being the reason.

IQ spoke on the couple, saying that (apparently their names were a series of clicking sounds)  they had not followed the rules of the house and had been asked to leave.’

“What rules?” The Doctor piped up, furrowing his brows. 

“Last night was pivotal when it comes to how you will handle your relationship.  There was no physical contact between them, and they seemed disgusted by each other.”

Rose wanted to mumble that she knew the feeling, but found that it probably wouldn't exactly be appropriate.  She busied herself by sipping her tea and not making eye contact with anyone. 

“So what does that mean for us?” Cindy asked, pouting a little.

“That means that today’s session is cancelled, as we can no longer partner up the couples.  Worry not, this will not make any of your screen time diminish, it just means there will be an episode dedicated to the dismissal of one couple.  You have a free day, I encourage you to spend it however you see fit.”

IQ rolled away and the Doctor got to his feet. “Rose, a word?”

She followed him to the gardens.  His hands were shoved in his pockets and she was still holding her tea in both hands.  Nobody followed them, and Rose was very grateful for that.  She kept taking sips of the cooling tea until he sat down on a garden bench, peering up at her.  

“Want me to sit?” She asked, pointing at the bench.  He nodded tersely and she sat down next to him, on a bit of an angle so that she could face him.  He looked like the wheels in his mind were turning at a mile a minute, which was not unusual for the Doctor.  She sat watching him, letting it process for awhile, and then she finally spoke. 

“What are you thinking?” She asked.

“Something’s wrong,” he said, “Physical contact between struggling couples- it would make sense that maybe they wouldn’t touch.  So why kick them out of the house for that?”

Rose looked around.  “You sure you wanna have this conversation here?” She asked quietly, trying to remind him where they were and that there were people watching them at all times. 

He seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.  “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, “We should go upstairs, don’t want anyone else coming and interrupting us.”

He gave her a meaningful look and she got up and followed him back out of the garden, dropping her mug off in the kitchen on the way.  She walked a couple paces behind him all the way up to their room and onto the balcony.  He looked around, supposedly to make sure that there was no one else looking at them, no more cameras, and turned to Rose.

“They knew something was wrong.”

“What?” Rose furrowed her brows, still trying to keep up. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, the couple.  They knew something was wrong, that’s why they got kicked out. They were trying to stay under the radar, but they must not know how reality television works.  So they got stuck.”

Rose ran her hand through her hair, trying to get her brain to catch up with whatever the hell the Doctor was on about.  “So IQ and the therapists got rid of them before they could figure something out.  Right?”

He grinned. “Right.”

“So they didn’t hurt them or anything, just made them leave?” 

“Well, if they were hurt, or killed, there would be suspicion.  So getting rid of them would be much easier.”

Rose was finding it a little hard to concentrate, her eyes kept flicking to the Doctor’s mouth and she wasn’t sure she wanted to be looking there. She furrowed her brow.  “So, um, it’s- they’re safe?”

“Presumably.  We could poke around a bit, but it’s very difficult to do that when there’s so many  _ cameras.” _

Rose frowned. “What were you expecting?” She demanded.  

He blinked, obviously a bit shocked at her tone. “I don’t know,” he said honestly, “It’s been a while since I’ve seen reality telly.  I don’t watch it the way that you do.”

“It’s not a bad thing to watch telly,” Rose said, crossing her arms. “If you’d bothered to research it a little instead of jumping into it like a maniac, maybe we could’ve avoided all of this.”

The Doctor squinted at her. Not like he was angry, but more like he wanted to know what she was thinking and was frustrated that he couldn’t quite read her mind.  “Are you angry with me?”

She fought down the tears in her eyes. “We should be focused on dismantling the cameras in that couple’s room, see what we can find. There might be something in there.”

“No, really, are you angry with me?”

Rose turned and leaned on the balcony, no longer looking at him.  “And if there isn’t anything in there, maybe one of the other couples heard something last night, we could ask them.  I don’t think Violet heard anything but the others may have.  It’s hard to say, really, wouldn’t you think?”

“Rose.”

She stopped talking, clenching her jaw, but still didn’t turn to look at him.  After a beat, he seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to talk anymore.

“I know we need to talk,” he said softly, “I know that it’s a lot.  I’m struggling to… Understand what happened.  Explain it to myself, you know.  But we can’t shout at each other like this.  I don’t want to fight with you.”

She knew that he was right, that she should shove aside all her negative thoughts and they should work together to get this done.  But it was so difficult to look at him and remember what they’d done together, what his kisses had felt like, his body against hers.  She was starting to feel warm just thinking about it, and she knew no aphrodisiac or whatever they’d been drugged by make her want him more than she did naturally.  She loved him.  

It hit her like a ton of bricks. She felt so strongly for the Doctor that there wasn’t anything else it could be.  She wanted to be near him always, and even when they fought she wanted to be with him.  It was more than the silly crush she’d thought she’d had on him.

What they’d done, in her eyes, was made love.  She couldn’t bear to know what he thought. 

“Okay,” She finally said softly, “If you can get the cameras down, let’s start there.”

He kept watching her, his expression worried.  She knew there was more he wanted to say, but he nodded, restraining himself, and started fiddling with his sonic.  

“Someday, I’ll make you one of these,” he said, smiling a little.  She offered a tiny smile back and she knew it was his way of reassuring her that no matter what happened, he wasn’t going to leave her behind.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who were worried about my head, it was just jostled from my fall, I'm not concussed! it was just a couple of days of headaches but I'm back to normal now and the doctor says I'm a-okay! Thank you for your concern, friends <3
> 
> (ALSO, only a bit of angst left. There's happy coming!)

The Doctor had, of course, developed a plan within minutes.  They were going to use the sonic, he explained, to shut down the cameras in the whole house. They wouldn’t rush to fix it because they weren’t collecting a video feed for the day.

“But you won’t know if they do fix it,” Rose said, arching her brow.

“The sonic will let me know,” he said, tapping it against his knee.  “I’ve got it linked.  The second the cameras go back on, we’ll know, and I’ll let you know in the most subtle way possible.”  He smiled a little and she nodded, agreeing, though she wasn’t sure she really wanted to agree.  This made her feel uneasy, mostly because she didn’t know what he would be thinking, what his idea of ‘subtle’ was.  In the past, it wasn’t very subtle at all.  This might be a little risky.

“So you wanna run in there and see what happens?” She asked, arching a brow.

He beamed happily at her.  “Isn’t that the best way to do things?”

She couldn’t help but laugh.  “Okay, okay, just shut the cameras down.”

He went to work, explaining it to her as he went, but she didn’t get it, so she just let herself zone out as he talked.  She liked listening to his voice, letting it wash over her like the wind.  She watched him as he spoke, his face expressive, and she couldn’t help but wonder what he was really thinking.  She knew what he was like, knew how he faked his way through his emotions.  It was incredibly draining.  She watched him, and finally there was the sound of a generator shutting down.  Rose shot him a look.  “Doctor?”

He peered inside their bedroom and smiled a little. “I shut down the power in the whole mansion by accident.”

She groaned and let him take her hand, leading her from door to door until he found the one that had to have belonged to the quiet couple.  The sheets were askew, like they’d been pulled out of bed, the drawers were open with some of their things hanging out.  Rose felt her jaw drop and her hand slipped from the Doctor’s.   The curtains being open allowed sunlight to flow into the room, though the cheery light did nothing to quell the uneasiness she felt at looking through the room.  

“Signs of a struggle,” She said, “They were taken in the night, yeah?”

The Doctor looked at her, his mouth set in a thin line. He nodded shortly.  “Yeah,” he whispered. “Taken in the night.  How did we not hear?”

Rose blushed furiously, wondering if he really was that stupid. “Um.  We were busy at the time.”

His eyes widened and a matching blush colored his own cheeks.  “Ah!  Yes, well, I suppose we were. Still though, if they’d made any sound, we’d have heard it.”

“I guess,” she said, though she wasn’t sure.  Neither of them had exactly been coherent.  She chewed her bottom lip and glanced around the room.  “Start taking stuff,” she said, “Maybe they left some papers.”

He tapped the side of his nose and started rooting around in one of the dresser drawers. “Good call, Lewis,” he said, and found a small notebook buried under some clothes.  He shoved it into his trouser pockets, which were, of course, bigger on the inside.  Rose looked about for some useful things too, but had less luck.  The couple had had sparse belongings to begin with, and Rose could only assume that they had at least managed to grab a couple of things before being taken away. The Doctor was right, they’d probably just been sent home and not hurt, but it still made her uneasy.

She pointed over at the dresser he’d found the notebook in.  “Look, they must’ve tried to grab that notebook before leaving,” she observed, feeling a bit thick for not noticing it earlier.

“Hm,” The Doctor rocked back on his heels. “Wonder what’s in it, then?”

“Shouldn’t we go back and open it up?” she asked, “See what’s inside?”  
“There might be something else in here. You check some more out here, I’ll look in their en suite.”

Rose agreed, and started rooting around a bit more. She got on her hands and knees and peered under the bed, finding nothing but a couple loose socks. She had a feeling there was nothing else worth finding except that notebook.  She wanted to snatch it from the Doctor’s pocket and read it.  He was still in the en suite though, and he’d given her a task to do.  They worked in silence.  Rose found a couple crumpled up papers and shoved them in her pocket, but other than that, there didn’t seem to be anything in the room. Rose wondered if it had been cleaned out by the therapists.  

The lights flickered and the Doctor let out a cry.  He ran out from the bathroom.  “They’re getting power back.”

“Well let’s get out-” she was cut off by the Doctor striding up to her, grabbing her face and kissing her.  She let out a muffled squeak of surprise but he pushed his tongue into her mouth to silence her. 

She didn’t really mean to kiss him back, but it was inevitable, since she loved him, and if he was going to offer it, she was going to take it.  She wrapped her arms around his waist, letting him take her mouth and not bothering to question it.  

He started to guide her to the bed but fumbled a bit.  “Oh,” he said, breaking away from her mouth. “This isn’t our room, Rose.”

“Hm?” She looked at him with cloudy eyes, as the kiss had quite literally stolen her breath away.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “Our travels brought us to the wrong room, love.  Come on.”  He pulled on her hands and she felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her.  It was just because the cameras were back on.  They needed a reason to be in here so they wouldn't be suspicious.  She dropped her arms from around his waist.  She wished he wouldn’t call her ‘love’ if he was going to do this to her.  That was all she wished for, for him to whisper sweet endearments to her and kiss her breathless.  But he wouldn't.  Not for real.

“Right,” She said, still breathing hard, “I didn’t even notice.’

He kissed her again, deep and wet until she felt her knees start to buckle, and then pulled her towards the door.  “Let’s have a cuppa on the balcony in  _ our  _ room, eh?  Don't fancy an afternoon shag.  You don't want to see me in the cruel light of day."

"Or maybe you don't want to see me," she retorted.

"No.  That's not it.  You can talk to Violet while I fix the tea up.  I just don’t want to spend the day with those other couples, not when we’re doing so well.”

She pursed her lips and nodded.  “Sure,” she said, smiling a little.  “Sounds lovely.”

He led her to the stares, pulling her up against him and kissing the back of her neck every so often and she felt her eyes roll back in her head every single time. He pulled back from her and grabbed her hand, and they held hands all the way down the stairs.  

Rose broke off from him once they hit the bottom of the stairs.  She made a beeline for Violet, who was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine.

“Oh, hello,” she smiled, “Where have you been?”

Rose sat down.  “He kissed me again.”

Violet arched her brows.  “Isn’t that a good thing?” 

“I thought so.  I can’t tell if he’s serious or not.”

Slowly, Violet lowered the magazine to her lap.  “Go on,” she said, obviously intrigued by the whole thing.  

“I think he might be doing it all for the cameras,” Rose said softly, not wanting said cameras to hear anything she was saying.  

Violet furrowed her brows. “What?  Why would you think that?”

“He only does it when there’s something on the line,” She said, lifting a shoulder. “S’not fair.  I don’t want to leave him, but-”

“Then  _ don’t.   _ Rose, he loves you,” Violet turned and took Rose’s hand in hers.  “He does, I’ve seen it in his eyes when he looks at you. There’s no one else in the room when you’re there. The way he reacted at the mock funeral… I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Rose felt tears start to build behind her eyes and she shook her head.  “He’s never done anything like this before, Violet, he really hasn’t. He’s different here.”

“Maybe he realizes what you mean to him,” Violet urged.  “Don’t give him up, Rose, don’t.  He does care about you, so much. Even if you can’t see it, at least try to?  What’s he doing now?”

“Making a cuppa for us to have on the balcony.”

“Oh, that’s lovely.  See, Ronald and Lin are playing Crock outside, and God knows where Cindy is.”

Rose frowned. “Crock?”

“Oh, that’s right, you’re from Earth.  It’s like croquet, but the mallets are flatter and not weighted at all.  Makes it much more difficult.”  She smiled, “But really, it’s very lovely that he wants to spend time with you on this day off, when he could easily use it as an excuse to stay away.”

Rose wanted to fight Violet on that, but she couldn’t tell her the truth.  She couldn’t tell her friend that they were only going to share a cuppa on the balcony because there were no cameras, and he’d only kissed her because they’d been snooping around.  She couldn’t share any of this with  _ anyone,  _ and since the Doctor wasn't talking about it, it stewed inside of her and made her frustrated and a bit sad. 

“Maybe,” She said, not knowing how to protest, and not feeling like she should.  She was upset, but couldn’t even show it, because they had so much to do.  They had to go through the notebook and the papers Rose had found, all while dodging whatever feelings they had for one another. Or more appropriately, she supposed, the feelings she had for the Doctor that were not returned back to her.  He’d made that much painfully obvious.  

“Rose?” His voice saying her name broke into her thoughts, and she looked over, waiting for him to speak.  He was holding two mugs, and he lifted one with her.  “Come on.”

She smiled a little. “Sorry,” she said to Violet.

“Don’t be sorry. Talk to him about what you’re feeling,” the other woman patted Rose’s leg and then watched the couple walk away with a bit of worry.  If they didn’t make it, she thought, she didn’t think anybody could. 

****

Rose and the Doctor walked in complete silence back to their room, knowing it wasn’t really safe to talk until they got to the balcony.  When they got there, he sat down in one of the chairs and handed one of the mugs to Rose. 

“Did you find anything?” he asked.

She blew on her tea and shrugged. “A couple crumpled papers under the bed, but that’s it.”

He pulled the notebook out of his pocket.  “Well, maybe they go along with this, hmm?”  He opened the book and made a little sound in the back of his throat.  “It’s not in English.”

“You mean the TARDIS isn’t translating?”

“No, she is.  This was written with an encryption so people wouldn't be able to read it.”

“What, like a computer encryption?  On paper? How?”

He waved a hand, his face looking confused for a few moments.  “Well, sort of.  Yes.  New tech.  Well.  I say new, I mean new-ish.  Well, when I say new-ish-”

Rose giggled, unable to stop herself.  “Okay, got it.  Something we don’t have in the twenty first century.  So, can you read it?”

“Yes, I can,” he sipped his tea and furrowed his brows at the book. “It’s a log,” he said, “Dates, entries, everything.”

“So what’s it say?”

He frowned a little and pulled the book closer to his face. “‘Day one: the other couples are very loud.  Je’ichte and I don't like them much.  Except for the Doctor and Rose.  They seem very nice.”

“Well, they never spoke to us,” Rose said sharply.

“That’s very true,” The Doctor said, “But the next entry says that they’re telepathic.  They were listening to us think.”

Rose choked on her tea. “Maybe we shouldn’t read the rest of it.  If that’s all it is.  That’s private.”

“Don’t be silly, Rose,” he said, “It might be useful.” He started skimming it and her heart started racing.  She didn’t want them to do this, didn’t want this conversation to start this way.  Because she  _ knew  _ what the couple would’ve picked up on her. 

He cleared his throat and began to read again.  “‘These couples are strange.  Cindy is quite enamoured by the Doctor, though because Ronald is so close, she pretends she is not.  Improvement for her!  Lin and Violet are falling in love again, it is very sweet.  Rose feels’...” The Doctor trailed off and looked over at Rose.

She cleared her throat, not wanting him to say anything.  “Um, so why did they keep a log?”

He didn’t take his eyes off of her. “They were studying us.  For research purposes.  They weren’t here to save their relationship, they were studying lifetime-mating techniques, what keeps people together.”

She felt her bottom lip start to tremble, not wanting him to say anything about what he may have read in the book.  She also wanted to know what it said.  She bit her bottom lip to stop its movement so she could contain herself. She finally spoke after several seconds of him staring at her.  “So, what- What were they doing it for?”

“Should… I should probably keep reading it to find out.”  

“But you’re staring at me,” She pointed out, her cheeks coloring.  
“Yes, I am,” he replied. 

“Why?” She whispered.

“Cause of what I read,” he said simply.  

“I don’t think I want to know what it says, then,” She said, fidgeting. “Why don’t you just keep reading and I can deal with my embarrassment later?  We still haven’t talked and I’m not- I don’t know what you just read, but-”

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“The journal.”

She nodded, accepting that they probably wouldn’t talk about the fact that they had made love  until they went back to the TARDIS.

That was, if they talked about it at all.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not sure how many more chapters to anticipate, the muse has a firm hold on me with this one!

 

Rose swallowed. “So just read it, then,” She said impatiently, “Just tell me what it says about me.”

“I don’t know that you’ll like it.”

Rose threw her free hand up. “Oh, my God, Doctor, just bloody read it.  We can deal with whatever it says ‘later’.  At your  _ favorite  _ time.  So just read it so we can figure this thing out and get out of here.”

She fell back in her chair and the Doctor started at her, gobsmacked.  He clearly hadn’t expected her to shout at him, and she knew he probably didn’t like it very much.  She looked away from him and down to her tea, which was far better to look at now, she thought.  He was probably shocked at her attitude, because as much as Rose had a bit of bite to her comments, she was never truly sharp with the Doctor.

He looked back down at the notebook.  “‘Rose feels very strongly for the Doctor, but his telepathic barriers are up. He is very difficult to read, but he is not fond of Cindy.  He does not like the way she looks at him.’”  The Doctor looked up at Rose and said softly, “I really didn’t, Rose.”

“I know,” she whispered. “Keep going.”

He shifted a little. “‘Day Two.  The couples did not like the exercise with the funeral.  Violet realized for the first time how much she loves Lin.  How exciting!  The chemicals excreted from her brain were strange, like happiness and sadness all at once.  Cindy is odd.  She wants to be happy, but will not let herself be.  Very strange’.”

“But why?” Rose asked, furrowing her brows. “I thought they were local to this planet.”

“Obviously we were wrong about that,” The Doctor said. “They can’t possibly be local.  Why would they be studying people in this way, then?”

Rose shrugged.  “Dunno.  Is there anything else in there?”

“Yes, there’s a couple more pages.  I’m surprised they didn’t try to take it with them.”

“Me too,” The Doctor said, fingering one of the pages.

Rose made a noise in the back of her throat. “Well, the drawer was all roughed up.  So obviously they tried to get to it while they were being taken and couldn’t.”

He made a hissing noise and leaned back in his chair.  “You’re probably right.”  He regarded her carefully for a moment.  “I never tell you enough how brilliant you are.”

She blushed and looked away from him.  “Thanks.  Keep reading?”

He looked back to the book. “‘Day Three: they forced us to talk about sexual intercourse all day.  We have never done that, but feeding off the thoughts of the others made it easy enough to pretend.  Cindy and Ronald discussed their sexual life, and they are quite adventurous!  We both were able to obtain reads on the Doctor and Rose.  She is quite amiable to a sexual relationship with him.  We got precious little from the Doctor, as his telepathic shields are still up, but it is clear that there is something within him that cares for her as well’.”  The Doctor didn’t even look at her before continuing.  

“‘Day Three: Part two.  It is very awkward to hear other couples engaging in amorous activities.  Our sensitive hearing is picking up all three of the other couples are doing something of a sexual nature.  How embarrassing!  We are reading their pheromones and for the first time we feel arousal.  It is possible that our species may not be asexual after all.”

“Wait,” Rose held her hand up. “They were here to see if they could reproduce… The original way?” 

“Maybe, but… It’s got to be more than that.  It has to be.”  He frowned.  “That can’t be it.  That wouldn’t be a reason for them to be kicked out.”

“Is that all there is?” Rose asked, pointing at the book.

The Doctor nodded, flipping through the blank pages.  “Ye _ p.   _ That’s all.  What’s on the papers you picked up?”

Rose slid down in her seat so she could shove her hand into her pocket. She pulled out the little crumpled balls of paper out of her pocket.  She pulled them open carefully, not wanting to rip them, and laid them across her lap. On the papers were maps and charts. The TARDIS seemed to be too far away to translate, so Rose wordlessly handed them to the Doctor.

He sniffed and pulled his glasses from his inside pocket, sliding them onto his nose before looking the papers over. He was quiet for a moment too long and Rose reached out and tapped his foot with hers.

“So what is it?” She asked.

“Oh, beautiful,” he said in awe, like he often did when he found something that he thought was lovely or alien.  She waited patiently, her hands folded in her lap.  Finally, he looked back up at her. 

“They’re charts, mapping our pheromones.  They’re scientists!”  He took his glasses off and nodded slightly, as if to himself. “Positively brilliant.  They’re asexual, Rose, so they wanted to study different kinds of relationships. Why is unclear, but, well, it doesn’t really matter.”

Rose frowned. “It kinda does,” she replied, “Why’d they get kicked out?  How would they have known?”

“They were a couple and they weren’t touching.  The therapists and IQ probably hated that. And they didn't’... Do anything the other night.  That would be enough to upset them. Their plans weren’t working, that’s why they were pumping the drugs in.”

“Oh,” Rose said, “Would we have been kicked out? If we hadn’t-”

“Most likely,” he said, cutting her off, and she nodded, looking away from him again. She was so tired of them being awkward, of things being wrong.  She hated when things were wrong between them, and they never fixed them.  They all just built up and stewed.  She knew she had to redirect the conversation, and poked him again to get his attention.

“Do you think the therapists were up to something?” Rose furrowed her brows.  “ _ Are  _ up to something, I mean?  And maybe they didn’t know what that couple was studying, they just didn’t like that they were studying at all. You know?”

The Doctor lifted a shoulder.  “Maybe.  And to be perfectly honest with you, Rose, I don’t feel like waiting for them to come talk to us.”

Her lip twitched. “Me neither.’

“We’ve got to get out of here.”

Rose nodded. “I completely agree.

“You know what that means?”  His eyes were twinkling now and her face broke out into a smile.

“We get to cause a scene?”

“Right in one, Rose Tyler!  We get IQ out of its little closet and demand to see the therapists.  Give them a bit of a show along the way.”

Rose couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “And if they kick us out?”

The Doctor shook his head.  “They won’t.  We’re probably stronger than them, they’re not used to fighting on this planet.  If that couple was taken by force, they can’t have been very strong.”

“Or they just weren’t trying too hard to fight them off,” Rose pointed out, chewing her bottom lip. “Maybe they gave up.”

The Doctor got to his feet, tucking the journal and the two papers into his inside coat pocket.  “Well, we’d best get to it.”  he leveled his gaze on her, “We’ll… Talk, after. I promise.”

She wanted to believe him.  She  _ wished  _ that she could believe him.  But there had been so many times that there was a promise of more, but then nothing at all had happened.  She nodded, already resigning herself to the fact that they would go on as they had been.  Not together.  Not anything at all.  She got to her feet, ready to do what they always did.  

The two of them went downstairs, and Rose’s heart began hammering in her chest.  She didn’t know how this was going to go, was almost afraid someone would attack them.  The Doctor, on the other hand, was walking nonchalantly, almost with a spring in his step, hands shoved happily in his pockets.  

Once their feet hit the bottom of the stairs, the Doctor started running his mouth (Which was absolutely not unusual).  “Alright, everyone, listen up!  I’ve got a few questions and I’m willing to bet that our therapists friends have the answers.”  He clapped his hands together.  “So, ‘therapists’, why don’t you come and talk to us in person!? Hm?”

“What are you doing?” Cindy asked from her seat on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand.

“I wanna know who, exactly, is watching us, especially now that one of the couples got kicked out.  Odd, wouldn’t you say?” He directed the last at Lin, who nodded, a little shocked. 

“You know, I’d like to see them too!” Ronald said shakily, standing up.

“Me too,” Rose said, offering the nervous man a smile.  He sent her a wobbly one back, like he might tip over if he stood up for too long. 

“So, what to do you say?” The Doctor spread his arms, looking up at the cameras. “Why don’t you show your faces, prove that we can trust you, eh?  How does that sound?”

Rose looked at the Doctor, who was looking at her as though he was expecting something. She furrowed her brows and nodded. 

“Yeah!” She shouted. “We want to know who you are!  How do we know you’re not fake doctors?”

“I never thought of that,” Violet said, and she stood as well, “Can’t we just see you?”  
Soon enough everyone in the house was shouting over one another, the noise intensifying until a blaring beeping came through the house.  Everyone except the Doctor ducked and put their hands over their ears.  The Doctor’s superior biology kept him from being affected.  He blinked down at Rose.

“You alright?”  
“What?”

IQ rolled out from the closet and stopped far enough away from them that no one could reach it.

“What are you doing?” IQ asked as the beeping subsided.

“We just would like to see the therapists, see who’s treating us without actually being here. Seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?”

“You are in good hands,” IQ said, seeming to be very convinced of that.  “I am programmed by the therapists, they can see through me at all times.”

The Doctor clasped his hands behind his back, leaning forwards towards IQ.  His face had turned serious and he looked at IQ skeptically.  “Hello.  I’d like to know what’s happened to that other couple.  We’ve all drawn conclusions, but I’d like to know the real reason.  Look under your data forms for the Doctor.  I’m sure you’ll find something interesting. Come and talk to me when you’re ready.”  He leaned back and walked back to Rose’s side.  

“We’d like to hear, too,” Ronald said slowly.  “All of us, we’re starting to wonder.  I’d like to see the therapists, too.”

Cindy came up next to him and took his hand, though she seemed a bit unsure about it. Rose smiled, feeling an unexplained feeling of warmth wash through her at the thought that maybe this dumb show had helped somebody out along the way, no matter how daft it had initially seemed. 

Ronald and Cindy smiled at each other, and IQ spoke again.

“You will see the therapists in your last session.  Not before.”

“See, I don’t know about that,” the Doctor said, tipping his head to the side.  “The way  _ I  _ see it, you need to let us see these therapists, or we’ll all walk out.  You wouldn’t like that very much, would you?”

It was clear IQ was being programmed with a response, as it went quiet for a few minutes.  Rose suspected the therapists were hurriedly trying to come up with something, because they really couldn’t keep people here against their will. There was no way to get everyone to stay and finish the show, and whatever tv station had picked it up would lose a lot of money.  Rose knew enough about losing money and she almost felt guilty for their actions.  However, they had to get to the bottom of this.  Money didn’t matter anymore.  If she was honest, she wasn't sure it ever had.

IQ lit back up.  “If you would like, the therapists will join you for dinner tonight and you can address your concerns for them. Is that alright?”

The Doctor grinned, acknowledging that he’d won the battle.  “That would be lovely.   How many are there? We’ll set the table for them.”

“Two.”

“Very nice.  We’ll see you then.”  

IQ wheeled back into the closet and Rose breathed out a sigh of relief, feeling everyone around her do the same.  She turned to the Doctor, fiddling with her hands. “So what do we do now?”

“I wasn’t expecting them to set something up,” The Doctor admitted, “I was expecting them to come to us.”  He jostled her shoulder.  “So what we do now is set up.”  He clapped his hands together.  “Come along everyone, only about three hours till dinnertime!”

Rose rolled her eyes but followed him, as she always would.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY TALK!!!! Also, this is all fluff and smut, a bit of an interlude before the big finale of this story. I hope you all enjoy!

They all set the table and dispersed within the half hour, all chatting excitedly about everything that they would ask the therapists.

Rose tugged on the Doctor’s sleeve.  “Can we go upstairs?” She asked him softly, giving him the look that she knew he could never resist, no matter how hard he tried to.  He might not admit that he felt anything for her, but one look at her big eyes had him faltering.

“Yeah, of course,” he said, nodding.  He reached for her hand and she let him take it, and she led him up the stairs, back to their room, and straight onto the balcony.  He seemed a little flustered by it, looking down at her expectantly.  

“We won’t talk if we don’t talk now,” She said, releasing his hand, “And I want to be honest with you.  I want to… I don’t want this to be stuck between us.”

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times and nodded slowly, sinking into one of the chairs and tugging the other one so it was closer to him.  She moved around it and sat, their knees almost brushing.  He reached for one of her hands with both of his, pulling it into his lap.  “What do you want to say?” He asked softly.

“Are you going to say anything or is this all going to be me talking?” She asked him, her voice just as quiet at his.  

“I want you to talk first,” he said awkwardly, shifting a little.

She blinked. “You don’t know where you stand with me,” she said, knowing it should’ve come out as a question but not being able to force it out.

He nodded a little.  “I need you to talk first,” he said, and she noticed the subtle change in the way he said it.  She scooted a little closer to him and reached out to touch his cheek with her free hand, forcing him to look at her.

“I love you,” She said, surprised to see his eyes widen.  He gasped a little and she rushed on before she could regret it.

“I love you so much it scares me,” she continued, “And I know that you think it was all whatever drug they gave us, that made me want you, but it wasn't. I have always wanted you.” 

He smiled a little, and it was a look on his face she’d never seen before.  He looked so soft and gentle, the way he looked at her.  The smile wasn’t cocky, it was more like it was disbelieving.  

“You have?”

She nodded, feeling a blush creep up onto her cheeks. “Yeah,” she said, “For a really long time.”  She drew her hand away from his cheek, suddenly feeling awkward and embarrassed.  “Um. Just needed to get that out.  I would understand if you wanted to take me home after this, but I just needed you to know.  I’m tired of pretending I don’t.  What I said about being jealous, you know, about you being a flirt.  That was real.”

“That bothers you?” He asked, regret in his eyes.

She withdrew her hand from his. “I had no right, but I thought… You were mine.”

“I am,” he said, reaching back for her hand.  “I am.”

She felt tears building in her eyes. “You have to spell it out for me, Doctor, I’m not going to read between the lines anymore. I can’t.  I  _ won’t.” _

“If I ever have to choose between you and the world, Rose, the world is properly screwed,” he said eloquently.  “I- I wa-” he blew out his cheeks. “You are everything to me, more than you will ever know.”

She blinked back the tears that had almost spill over. “So you’re not going to take me home?” She asked.

“To me, your home is with me, if you want it to be,” he said, “I do love you, Rose, more than I can ever say.”

“Were you ever going to tell me that, if I hadn’t cornered you just now?” she asked, suddenly very unsure of herself.

He nodded. “I intended to, when we talked, hopefully on the TARDIS so I could run away when you told me it was just the drug that did it to you.”  He sighed.  “But you- You don’t want to leave me.”

She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

He got to his feet and pulled her up to her feet.  “Can I hug you?”

She walked right into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.  He pulled her against him by the waist and pressed his face to her shoulder, needing to hold her closer.  She didn’t feel the same aggressive need for him that she had before, but a warmth settled into her stomach, and she knew that it had everything to do with him. 

She pulled back from his embrace and framed his face in her hands.  The look that was between them was something full of understanding, and a knowledge that this was where they had always been headed.  He seemed to catch on to what she wanted and leaned down to kiss her, his movements tentative.  

Rose felt a little groan creep up in her chest and she pulled him closer to her, making her mouth move with more strength over his.  He followed along, no longer shy at all.  She ran one of her hands into his hair, tugging on it until he gasped against her.

“We’ve still got about two hours,’ he said once he broke away from her, his eyes not clouded with lust but with something far more powerful. She nodded, reaching to his tie and working it to pull it off his neck.  He grabbed it from her and whipped it around so it wrapped around her waist, wrapping the ends of the tie around his hands. 

“What was the purpose of that?” She asked, wriggling in his grip.

“Keep you here with me,” he replied, reaching down to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes against the tender touch.

“I’m staying with you forever,” She promised, and it was already more words exchanged since their first time doing this, but it was still lovely to think that this sort of thing was allowed, that they could be tender and touch without wondering how it would be in the morning.  They’d established what they were, what they could be, would continue to be.

She tilted her head up. “Kiss me again,” she offered.

He took her up on it, kissing her hard, tugging her against him by his tie about her waist.  She gripped him with a brand new intensity, something she’d never felt before. 

“Inside,” he said breathlessly when they broke away.

“You’ll have to be more specific than that, Doctor.”

“Cheeky!”

They made their way inside, and the Doctor kissed her over and over, throwing the tie over his shoulder.  He pushed her gently back onto the bed, and it made Rose’s heart swell, how he was always so gentle with her. He was never rough, not even when he had been desperate with need before.  He crawled over her on the bed, bracing himself above her. 

“This okay?” He asked on a whisper.

She nodded. “Yes.”

He leaned down, bypassing her lips and kissing her neck. She arched into his touch and brought her knees up to bracket his hips.  They sank into each other’s embrace, wrapping around each other, kissing and touching, his hands sliding up under her shirt.  She rid him of his jacket and reached down, pulling his button down out of his trousers.  

“How long?” She asked him as he pulled down the collar of her shirt, moving towards her breast. 

“Hm?” He mumbled against her skin.

She coasted her hands through his hair. “How long have you loved me?” She asked, feeling selfish for wanting to know, but also  _ desperately  _ wanting to know.

“Since we saw that Dalek,” he said, “The first time.  I realized I didn’t want to live without you.  And now I know I can’t.”  He tapped her side with his fingers.  “And you?”

She touched his cheek.  “Since Cardiff.”

“What?” He furrowed his brows.  “How?”

“You showed me the most incredible things, and you told me I was beautiful.  But then you backed right off, you were scared.”

“Scared of you,” he said softly, drawing her knees up so their hips were touching.  “Scared of how you already made me feel.  How I loved being with you so much I could hardly stand it.”

She pulled him up from her chest and kissed him firmly, hooking an arm around his neck.  He groaned against her mouth and started tugging at her shirt.  She pulled back just enough to let him pull it off.

“You are so lovely,” he whispered against her skin.  “So, so lovely.”

Her heart warmed but she realized she wasn’t as close to him as she wanted to be.  She pulled on his button down until he pulled back enough to let her unbutton it.  He kept pressing kisses to her face as she did so, making her giggle a little.  

“I love you,” She said, her eyes falling closed.  “So, so much.”

“I love you, too,” He replied, “So much.  Time Lords… Don’t, with humans, but  _ you.   _ Oh, Rose, anyone would, with you.  You are so perfect, so understanding and caring and you are  _ so important  _ to me.”

She’d never heard a man talk to her like that before.  With Jimmy it had been nasty dirty talk that made her feel worthless and a bit like a whore.  Mickey hadn’t talked at all, and it half made Rose think he was picturing someone else instead of her.  But the  _ Doctor.   _ The way he spoke to her held her in reverence, like she was the most important woman in his world. 

They were a bit quieter as they undressed each other, the only sound being heavy breaths and the sounds they elicited from each other. It was much less rushed than what they had done before, the touches more deliberate and less fleeting as they now knew they were allowed to do this more than just today.

Touching him in the daylight was terrifying, because she knew he could see her and she felt a bit self conscious about it.  She covered herself when he unhooked her bra clasp and removed the material, and he shook his head, kissing the valley between her breasts.  

“Don’t,” he whispered. “Don’t hide yourself from me.  I want to see you.”

She let go of any inhibitions she had, then, letting him touch her all over, and touching him in return, moving her hand time and time again to his hair, tugging and pulling him back to her.  

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, arching up into him.  “Now,” she said breathlessly, trying to knock his hand from where he was working between her legs.

“Oi, I’m not done yet,” he mumbled.

“Can you- oh, my God.  Can you please just-”

“I said I would worship you, and I didn’t.  I didn’t even bother. I was very selfish.”  He frowned to himself. “I was very rude.”

“That’s just how you are,” she protested, “And it did not feel selfish from where I was,” she said, throwing her head back as he moved in just the right way.  “Doctor, please!”

“Shh, love, there’s other people in the house,” he started kissing his way down her body, and she tugged on his hair. 

“I could… For you-”

“No,” he said against her stomach.  “Not this time.  This is for you.”

He moved his mouth even lower and showed her a different set of stars.  

If felt like years later and also no time at all when he finally settled between her legs, right where he was meant to be.  

“Doctor?” She whispered, just before he came home.

“Mm?” his voice sounded strained, and she knew it was very difficult for him to keep himself restrained, but he did it for her. “Are you changing your mind?” He asked her softly, afraid of the answer.

She shook her head.  “No! No, just… How do we go on, from this?”

He kissed her forehead and pulled back.  “We sleep in the same bed,” he kissed her cheek, “We do everything together, as a team,” he leaned down and pressed an eternally gentle kiss to her lips.  “Not that much changes, Rose.  We were always meant to be this way.”

She could see him shaking a little and she giggled, kissing the tip of his nose. “Okay.  Go.”

He sighed happily and rocked slowly into her, his eyes screwing shut.  She kissed him all over his face while they both adjusted, and he finally leaned down to kiss her softly.  She let him build it up until they were both panting and moving against each other with determination.  Rose was sure she’d never felt anything quite like this, not even the last time they’d done it.  He was murmuring his love into her neck, and she returned it as best as she could, whispering to him all the times she’d thought of snogging him, all the times she nearly told him she loved him.

They were so in sync that they exploded about the same time, her scream echoing off the walls as they fell together.  He collapsed on top of her, breathing against her, making her neck a little damp.

“Thank you,” She said softly, “Thank you for worshipping me,” she said a little cheekily.

“Anytime, Rose,” he said, sounding exhausted, and this time they didn’t manage to even adjust themselves under the covers before falling asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for the wait on this, I've had some trouble with my beast of a computer and couldn't get anything to load. It's here now, and I hope it makes up for the wait!!  
> I anticipate 1 or 2 more chapters, and then I have a little AU planned :)
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy!

Rose didn’t sleep long, and woke up to feeling the Doctor’s fingers trailing up and down her bare back.  She hummed a little and shifted closer to him. He shifted his hair off of her neck and leaned down to press wet kisses to the back of it.  She felt a moan build up in her throat and she reached out for him, pulling back to look at him. 

“Hi,” she said softly, looking up into his eyes.  He smiled and cupped her cheek.

“Hello.”

“How long was I asleep?”

“About a half hour,” He said, “You just needed a recharge, we were both holding back from a telepathic connection.”

She furrowed her brows.  “What?”

He blushed a little and went back to stroking her back.  “I really- I wanted to, but it didn’t feel like the right time to ask.”

“You mean like… A telepathic bond?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I would… I would love that, with you.  I don’t  _ need  _ it, but just have that with you would be-” he blew out his cheeks. “Like nothing else.”

“After all this is over,” She said softly, “I would like that.  But I think we should do that on the TARDIS.”

The Doctor made a little sound of approval, and stroked his fingers lower and lower towards her bum.

“Oi, we should get up.”

He moved forwards and kissed her temple, sliding down in the bed to lay down next to her.  “I find that now that I’m in bed with you properly I don’t want to leave.’

“Mm, that’s how I feel every morning,” She said, rolling towards him to kiss him leisurely. He let out a muffled sound against her mouth, his hand spanning her back as he tugged her against him.

Rose only let that continue on for a few minutes before pushing at his chest, breaking away.  “Let’s get ready for dinner, yeah? We need to figure out what to do.  With these therapists.  Are we going to have to get everybody out of here?”  
The Doctor shook his head against the pillow, looking very sleepy and cuddly and making Rose want to hug him.  “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I can’t even pretend to know.”

“That’s unlike you.”

“What, to not know something?”

“No, to  _ admit  _ that you don’t know something.”  She leaned over and kissed his forehead, pulling back to roll out of bed and get dressed.  The Doctor watched, obviously enjoying the view, and Rose let him look.  It was very nice to be desired, she decided, and the fact that it was love just made it so much better.  This was it for her, and she was sure that he knew that.  She wouldn’t have offered to bond with him otherwise. She wanted every part of him, and the fact that he offered it to her made her heart swell.

He got out of bed only when she was dressed, putting his suit on again.  She didn’t even try to get him to put something else on, because she knew he was doing it because he thought they’d be leaving today.  Rose took the hint, starting to pack up her things. He did so as well, and the two of them fell into easy chatter, and Rose knew that they’d be alright. They were still best mates after all, above everything else, and Rose knew that she wouldn’t have it any other way.  

Once their bags were sorted, Rose looked to the Doctor and put her hands on her hips. “Ready to finish this?”

He nodded, that pinball grin lighting up his face. “You bet, Rose Tyler.  Let’s go.”

Violet pulled Rose aside the second she hit the bottom of the stairs.  “You alright?” 

Rose nodded, grinning. “We talked,” she whispered.  “And… Other stuff.”

Violet squealed and jumped up a little bit.  “Oh, Rose, I’m so happy for you.  So he does?  Feel attracted to you?”

After a moment, Rose nodded slowly, glancing over at him.  “Oh, yes.  He does.”

The two of them giggled, earning them odd looks from the men that they both blatantly ignored.

Rose was surprised at how nice it was, to sit and talk with both other couples while preparing dinner until there was a light knock at the door.  The Doctor stiffened and nodded to Rose, who popped up at his side immediately.  The two of them went to answer the door, opening it to two other Kryptonon-looking people, though their skin was a light grey.  Rose had been expecting people a bit more foreign looking, so she couldn’t stop herself from frowning a little.  

“You’re the therapists that have been peeping in on us?” The Doctor asked, rocking back on his heels a little.  

“Yes, sir,” the female said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Although it is indeed something you signed up for.”

The Doctor shook a finger at her.  “Yes, indeed,” he said, “But we were here knowing something fishy was up.”  He wrinkled his nose and looked over at Rose. “Please don’t let me call anything fishy again.”

“Noted.”  
“Shall we discuss this over dinner?” Ronald asked, “We’ve cooked something lovely for you both.”

There was some awkward shuffling as everyone adjusted themselves around the table, and Cindy and Rose set the food out on the table.  Rose took her seat right next to the Doctor and Cindy sat next to her husband, and Rose was pleased to see them join hands under the table.

“Shall we introduce ourselves, then?” The male asked, his antenas bobbling as he looked around the room.  I’m Le’kak, and this is my wife, Lorin.”

Rose blinked.  “Um. Nice to meet you.  You clearly know all of us,’ she said, poking at the meat on her plate.

“Clearly,” Lorin said, glancing around, “But I must say, we are very happy to see the improvements between all of you as couples.  It has been rather impressive, and we’re very happy for all of you.”

There was a bit of tittering as people said their thank yous, but it didn’t last terribly long.  They all focused on the couple of therapists, who looked at each other, looking quite exasperated indeed.

“So, no use beating around the bush, is there?”  The Doctor clapped his hands as they all tucked in. “We know you booted the fourth couple, we have their notebook.  What I wanna know-” he leaned forward, “Is why you kept all of us.”

Lorin shifted in her seat.  “Listen,” she said softly, “You six will never quite understand why we do what we do, but it’s very important.  We  _ did  _ help you, we  _ are  _ therapists.”

Le’kak nodded as well, “Just because we are not in the house with you does not mean we aren’t doing our jobs.”

A bit of hush fell, and Violet finally spoke up. “But why weren’t you in the house with us?” she asked softly.

“We needed to observe you from afar, and we couldn’t do that when you were all in separate rooms talking. We needed to be able to keep an eye on all of you at once, so we could figure out how you were progressing. The penultimate night was the night after you were all to talk about intimacy.” Le’kak said it all very methodically, gesturing gracefully with one hand. “Is that so odd?”

“Therapy should be intimate,” The Doctor protested.  “It doesn’t work as well when it is detached.”

Lorin arched her brow.  “Well, that may be easy for you to say, but you and Miss Tyler engaged in some of the most rigorous intercourse we’ve ever seen.”

Rose choked on her mouthful of food and turned beet red.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t - I knew there were cameras, but I didn’t think you would seriously watch us.”

“It was very entertaining.”

“Oh, God.”

“Indeed.”

“So, wait, that night, we all- there were  _ cameras?”  _ Cindy squealed.  “We didn’t sign a disclaimer or anything!”

The Doctor leaned back in his chair. “Precisely.  And it can’t be aired, well, it could be, but not on the channels this show is going to be geared towards, eh?”

“So you watched all of us?” Violet asked, her face stricken.  

“Yes,” Lorin said sharply, “I don’t know why that’s such a surprise.  We’re studying you.”

“But why?” The Doctor asked.  “Why were you studying us?”

Le’kak leaned back in his chair, tapping the side of his mouth with a napkin.  “Do you really want to know?”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Obviously we do.”

“Right,” Lorin frowned a little.  “This will be an end to the show, then, I suppose.”

“Think of it as a very dramatic series finale,” The Doctor said, crossing his arms.  His scowl sort of seemed to match up more with his previous self, and Rose couldn’t help but smile a little bit.

Le’kak sighed.  “People don’t usually question reality television,” he shot the Doctor a dirty look.  “We’ve taken this show across seven galaxies and never had a complaint before!”

The Doctor arched an eyebrow.  “Oh, so you’ve done this in other places.  But you still haven’t told us why.  Something tells me you two aren’t real doctors.”

“And you are?” Lorin snapped.

The Doctor blinked, surprised. “Yes, I am.”

“I suppose we should tell them,” Le’kak said, seeming much more willing to give it up then Lorin.  He settled his hand on her shoulder.  “My wife and I are Endolemes.”

The Doctor’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Is that something important?” Cindy asked, frowning.

The Doctor nodded slowly, “Sort of.  They’re asexual, but they feed off others intimacy, it’s how they stay alive, how they reproduce.”

Lin blinked. “What!  Did we get this woman pregnant?”

“In a way,” the Doctor explained.  “They’re also telepathic, they would have heard us and felt our emotions and thoughts. A rekindled relationship creates one of the most powerful waves of emotion, it would have been enough to-” he cleared his throat, “Get them going.  Are you expecting, Lorin?”

After a moment, Lorin sighed and nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“And this show is how you have all your offspring.”

Le’kak looked around the room, looking vastly uncomfortable.  “Yes,” he admitted, “It is.”

Rose frowned, her brow crinkling together prettily.  “Hang on.  There isn’t anywhere else you can go to get… Telepathic pushes?”

The Doctor smiled at her softly, noting how she carefully chose her words.  “Yes, there are.  Did you know about that?”

Lorin and Le’kak shook their heads, both looking just the right amount of forlorn for what they had done, in the Doctor’s opinion. They had violated every couple in the house, whether they knew it or not.  The Doctor let out a long breath through his nose, and felt Rose’s hand touch his knee in reassurance under the table. 

“I can show you where to go,” the Doctor said, “Where there are more species like you.  But you have to stop this, stop exploiting innocent people who just want to fix their relationships.  Is that why you kicked the fourth couple out?”

“They weren’t providing any useful information!” Lorin cried. “We were receiving nothing from them, mentally.”

“They were blocking themselves off,” The Doctor said with sudden realization.  “That’s all it was.  They just wanted to study  _ us,  _ so they didn’t let anyone else see that they were even having thoughts at all!”  He clapped his hands together. “Brilliant.”

“So what does this mean now?” Ronald asked suddenly, looking a tad bit worried.

“We all go home,’ The Doctor said, leveling his gaze on Le’kak and Lorin, daring them to say otherwise.  “Congratulations on your pregnancy. Rose and I will take you to our ship so we can show you some places you can go to be with your people.  Sound alright?”

The Doctor was being kind, but Rose knew that look in his eyes, and she knew that no matter what, Lorin and Le’kak could not say no to what he offered.  There would be a bit of hell to pay if they did.

Lorin seemed embarrassed, and she got up from her chair and stalked out of the house, leaving Le’kak behind.  Sighing, the man shook the Doctor’s hand.  

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking around at all the couples.  “I suppose it’s so natural to us, we didn’t think about what it would mean for you lot.  Can you forgive us?”

There were murmured assents, and the Doctor nodded, smiling a little.  “Meet Rose and I at the front of the house at eight tonight.  We’ll all be out of here soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you that might feel I dealt with Lorin and Le'kak too quickly, I felt the same way at first, but the fact that I had them hiding away from the house the whole time was to show that they are very passive, so I didn't want a huge fight to break out over it. I hope no one was disappointed by this.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO SORRY for the delay on this, I wanted it to be perfect. I hope you enjoyed this story! Thank you so much for all the love I received on it. I have a couple little AUs planned, but not sure beyond that.  
> Again, thank you SO much, your love on this story inspired be so much.

To Rose’s surprise, Le’kak and Lorin were on time to meet the Doctor at the front of the house. They’d all said their goodbyes, and they’d been assured by some disheartened producers that they would still be on the show, and that it was just going to be a dramatic finale.  Rose was still embarrassed by the whole thing, but couldn’t bring herself to say so.

The Doctor stood next to Rose and headed in the direction of the TARDIS the moment Lorin and Le’kak met them at the front of the house.  He said nothing, but Rose tagged along behind him, knowing that he would speak when he found that he needed to.  He reached behind him with the hand not holding his bag, and she trotted up to grab his hand.  He looked back at her with a little smile and she beamed back at him, just happy to be next to him.

“Say what you will about us, Doctor, but we enhanced the relationship between you Rose Tyler.”  Lorin said, her arms crossed as she walked next to her husband.   

The Doctor shot a dirty look over his shoulder.  “By drugging us and forcing us.  And making both of us feel guilty as a result.”

“But you figured it out,” Lorin prosted.  “I know our methods are unconventional, but this works.”

The Doctor didn’t even answer, his jaw clenched, and Rose squeezed his hand, trying to encourage him, at least a little.  He looked to her and his face immediately softened, and she had to acknowledge the power she held over him.  She leaned her head on his shoulder for just a moment and he pressed a kiss to her hair.

When they finally reached the TARDIS, the two aliens didn’t seem surprised by the size of the inside of the ship.  Rose looked at the Doctor, confused.

“Aren’t they supposed to be impressed?” She whispered.

His lip twitched, “They probably studied the Time Lords in school,” he told her, “There are plenty of other planets that study other species.”

She hummed in the back of her throat. “Except humans.”

He scrunched his eyes up and nodded, “For awhile, yet,” he acknowledged.  “Yes.  But you expand, and you grow, and you learn.  Just like every other species that’s ever inhabited the universe.”

She nodded, acknowledging what he said but not knowing what else to say in response.  He looked like he wanted to hug her or something of that nature, but was holding himself back since they had company.

The Doctor went through a list of planets with Le’kak and Lorin that they could go to where things would be the same for them, telepathically.  The two looked through brochures and chattered to each other, and finally Le’kak pointed at one, looking back to the Doctor. 

“This looks good,” he said, tapping the paper.  “Thank you for helping us.”

The Doctor nodded. “Of course,” he said, “As long as we can be assured that the manipulation of couples will not be happening again.”

Lorin looked unhappy, but she nodded.  “Yes, we can agree to that, I believe,” she said, her tone a bit grumpy.  

“If I found out you’ve done anything else, I’ll find the both of you and set you straight,” he arched an eyebrow. “Am I understood?”

Le’kak, looking worried, nodded.  “Yes, of course.”  

The Doctor nodded, seemingly content with that answer, and started piloting the TARDIS away from Kryptonon.  Lorin came and sat next to Rose on the jump seat and peered at her skeptically.  

“Are you sure you are not expecting?” She asked softly, casting a nervous glance over at the Doctor.

Rose felt her stomach dropped. She hadn’t even really thought about it, and now that she was thinking about it, she wondered if she was pregnant. She’d not missed or anything, but it was starting to concern her to a certain extent.

“We’re… him and me, we’re two different species, there’s no way I could be pregnant.”  Rose tried to force a little smile.  “There’s just no way.”

“I would not be so sure of that.  Ask him, perhaps.”

Rose nodded, knowing that now that it was plaguing her mind, she would have to ask him.  She ran her now sweaty palms up and down her legs.  “I’ll… I’ll ask him.  Why, can you sense it or something? Am I?”

Lorin shook her head. “I do not sense things such as that, that is more physical than telepathic.  But the two of you had unprotected relations twice, and that is in fact the way both of your species do things.  Well, sometimes.”

Rose didn’t even think to ask about what  _ that  _ meant because she was only thinking about the fact that a tiny Time Lord could be growing inside her.  She jostled her leg against the floor.  “Um, so… I… I’m sorry, I can’t be pregnant.”

Lorin shook her head. “It isn’t up to you to decide whether or not your body has accepted a fertilized egg.”  
Rose wrinkled her nose at the clinical description of pregnancy, and thought about it until the two left, thanking the Doctor all the way.  Once the door was closed behind them, he walked up to her, laying his hands on her waist and leaning down to kiss her softly.  She forgot what she was thinking about for just a moment, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him closer.  He hummed against her lips, pressing closer, but alarm bells sounded in her head, reminding her that they still had something to talk about.

She pulled back, resting her fingers over his lips. “Am I pregnant?” She asked softly, making direct eye contact.

He furrowed his brows. “What?”

“We didn’t use anything.”

“I know, but-  Oh.  Rose, it’s almost genetically impossible.  Did I mention that?”

“Almost?” Rose asked, arching her eyebrows and starting him down, hoping that he would rectify it and say that no, there was no way she could be pregnant.

He sighed, moving to sit next to her, facing her.  “Rose, there is a tiny possibility, and I’m sorry for not thinking of it sooner.  We can go check, in the medbay, right now?”  
She smiled a little. “No, it’s okay, it was both of us, neither of us thought about it.  We should… Check though, like you said.”

He kissed her forehead and pulled her to her feet, leading her back towards the med bay.  She followed without a word, not even knowing what she would say if she opened her mouth.  Could her life change this quickly?  What would she do if she was pregnant after all?  She loved the Doctor, of course she did, so she would raise it with him.  She would  _ love  _ that, and even if she wasn’t pregnant now… Maybe someday.

Upon inspection, the Doctor confirmed that she wasn’t pregnant, and she looked up at him, seeing the slight slump in his shoulders. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I should’ve just taken a pregnancy test from home and not gotten your hopes up.”

“No, it would’ve just upped your anxiety and that would’ve been terrible.”  He shook his head, as though trying to clear out his thoughts.  “Would you… One day, perhaps, want to have children with me?”

Rose smiled, drawing him closer to the table she was sat on. “I would love to,” she said, “Just not right this second.”

He laughed. “Of course not right now, but… It might be a nice- addition, to what we have, now.”

She nodded.  “If it’s possible for us to have children, Doctor, I want it, but I can’t think about it right now, I’m just not ready.”

“Of course!”  He squeezed her hand.  “But are you… Still thinking about bonding… With me?  I hope this didn’t put you off at all, because I really do want to be your bondmate, Rose.  It’s so important to me, and I-”

“Doctor,” she laughed, nodding to him.  “Yes.  Can we…. Now?”

He practically dragged her back to his room and she found herself laughing all the way.  He started laughing as well, a fully joyful laugh that she loved.  Once they were in his room, he pulled her up against him.

“Time Lord bonding requires skin to skin contact, but not… All of it.  Just a couple layers down, if that’s alright.”

Rose nodded. “Course.”  She stepped back from him and pulled her jacket off, letting it fall to the floor as she made eye contact with him.  “Go on, Doctor, you could help me.”

He grabbed her by the front of her shirt, pulling her up against him and kissing her deeply, shoving his hands under her shirt.  She followed his lead, pulling his oxford out of his trousers, just needing him closer.  He went to her willingly, letting her first push off his jacket and then his oxford.  The Doctor slowed down the kiss, keeping it gentle, until they were both almost but not quite naked.  

The Doctor led her to the bed, pulling down the covers and sitting down on it.  She moved to the other side, sitting and following his lead.  They laid down facing each other, covers up to their shoulders.  He moved closer to her until they were sharing a pillow, and settled a hand on the side of her face, his fingers touching her temples.  “Mirror me,” he whispered, and she shifted, lifting her own and hand and mirroring his position.  She felt a faint shine, if that was even possible, and Rose hummed a little. 

“I can feel you,” She said softly.

“I can feel you too,” he said, clearly holding back wild excitement.  He pressed a kiss to her cheek.  “Open yourself up to me.  Let me in.”

She focused on letting him in and felt his essence flow into her and touch her all over.  She gasped at the feeling of it and he pulled back a little, just so that it wouldn’t be as overwhelming as the initial contact had been.  She sighed and tried to move closer to him, but he kept her exactly where he wanted her. 

_ Is this the bonding?  _ She felt her voice float through his mind from hers.

_ Yes, we’re sharing our minds. Telepaths can look into each other minds, but not bond.  I’m sharing myself completely with you, and you’re doing the same with me. _

She felt it, could feel them touching each other’s minds, and she  _ loved it.   _ It was an indescribable feeling, really, and she found that she wanted more of it.  

She couldn’t tell how long they sat there, just listening to each other’s thoughts, looking into each other’s pasts (with permission) and after Rose started to grow tired, the Doctor pulled back his mind from her.  She whimpered in protest and he shushed her, laughing in her mind.

“You’re tired,” he whispered, “We bonded hours ago, it’s just… Nice, to have that filled.”

She knew what he meant.  She could feel his presence in her mind even after it was gone, and he reassured her that it would always be that way.

“How long were we doing that?” She asked sleepily, cuddling into his chest.  He pressed gentle kisses to her hair for a moment before responding.

“About four hours.”

“Wow,” She whispered. “I liked it, we could do it again sometime.”

“Really?” even though they weren’t physically mingling, she felt his happiness swell in her mind and she smiled.

“Yeah,” she replied.  Arms wrapped around him and snuggled against him, she had to be a little thankful that they went onto that reality show.  It was worth it, all of it.  “I love you, Doctor.”

He pulled the blankets higher around them and sighed happily. “I love you too, my Rose.  So much.”

The bondmates, so happy they were both bursting with it, fell asleep wrapped up in each other. 

The TARDIS  hummed happily. She’d done well to send the Doctor that flyer.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review?


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